Action taken to prevent children climbing onto roof of The Centre in Oswestry

The installation follows a number of recent incidents of youths climbing onto the roof, and aims to prevent continued unauthorised access by local youngsters.

Steve Law, strategic asset manager with Shropshire Council, said:

“The fence has been put in place reluctantly but for a very important reason. We take our responsibility for health and safety very seriously and we don’t want anyone to injure themselves through trespassing on the roof of The Centre. We gave careful consideration to the most appropriate precautions to take, and sought advice from our Crime Prevention Officer on protecting our premises and discouraging unauthorised climbing at height. This fence was deemed to be the best way to tackle what it is a very serious problem.

“We now want to get the message out to children that climbing onto the roof is dangerous and they put themselves at risk of serious injury by doing so. The fence has been put in place for a very good reason and we urge children not to try and climb over it – they may injure themselves if they attempt to do so.”

Vince Hunt, Shropshire Councillor for Oswestry West, said:

“The Centre is a space designed for young people and their safety is at the heart of what we do. We run successful weekly youth sessions and activities for 10-18 year olds. We must ensure young people are not able to access the roof as they have been doing, as serious injury would only be a matter of time. The measures used may seem excessive but we want to be as sure as we can that vulnerable access points are well secured. Anti-climb paint has been used previously on the property but this is more a deterrent rather than a full stop no access. We do not want to do the minimum to protect the young people – instead we have gone with the best approach to protect our young people, with advice from professionals.”