Stratford residents shocked to see girl walking on edge of car park roof in town centre
TERRIFYING scenes of a young girl walking on the edge of a roof area of Windsor Street Car Park left onlookers stunned and fearful she would fall to her death at any moment.
Shocked at what they witnessed last Tuesday, 15th August, one resident immediately called police.
Meanwhile a business owner with offices close to the car park captured the horrifying stunt on camera and described how the girl could clearly be seen walking along the five-storey car park doing ballet-style dances.
She was accompanied by a group of other youths who left the roof and returned to the car park’s ground level when police arrived ten minutes after the emergency call was made.
This is the latest in a string of incidents at the troubled car park site which has already seen previous examples of anti-social behaviour this year, including youths sitting on top of the lift housing of the car park, playing football at 1am on a Saturday, drinking and loudly partying plus vandalism to vehicles.
During last Tuesday’s incident one of the youth was seen to set fire to a waste bin and then threw the contents onto the ground below.
Chris Wall, who lives near the car park said: “I’m sad to say there still appears to be nothing in place to prevent anyone getting on top of the stairwell on the top floor of the car park, and last night we witnessed the terrifying sight of a young lady walking on the very edge of this roof area, over the sheer drop to the paved area below.
“The car park is not a place you’d want to enter at night and stairwells are left open. With the drinking problems in Rother Street by the Fountain and the ongoing problems at the car park, the area’s turned into the Wild West.”
Residents are now calling for something to be done urgently and a site visit was made on Tuesday that involved local businesses, a Stratford District Council representative, police officers and a group of residents living nearby.
The meeting was described as “quite productive” and a useful opportunity to discuss key concerns.
“One of the top floor lift units at Windsor Street already has an anti-climbing fixture on top of it so the youths can’t get on that one, why not do the same with the other lift unit, it would only take a day?” Mr Wall said.
The car park is run by Stratford District Council on behalf of which a spokesperson said: “We are really disappointed by the reports that young people are actively scaling this part of Windsor Street Car Park. We would like to remind youths that this can be extremely dangerous, and you are putting yourselves in real danger. Please think twice. What might seem like harmless fun could lead to serious injury or worse. Do not take that risk.”