Health and safety officer calls fire brigade to tackle loose roof tile (From Surrey Comet)

Merton Council H&S officer calls fire brigade to tackle loose tile

9:50am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Wimbledon By Omar Oakes

Part of Wimbledon town centre experienced major disruption last week when a council officer reported a “potential threat” posed to the public by a loose roof slate.

Ten firefighters and several police officers were called to Wimbledon Hill Road at about 3pm on Wednesday, January 25, when a Merton Council health and safety officer said passers by could be in immediate danger.

But the building’s owner, Samira Sirhan, said the council had been “totally unreasonable” to raise the alarm because she had been told by her builder the roof slate was secure.

Ms Sirhan said: “Our builder said it was fine, and that he could wait for the weather to get a bit better before carrying out the work.

“But the manager from the council insisted our builder had to be there within an hour or he would get a cherry picker to sort it out and bill us for it. Clearly this was totally unreasonable.

“It was a total waste of time and more danger to the public than the slate as they were using resources of the emergency force for nothing.

“A fireman I spoke to that was called up didn’t understand why they were called if our builder was already coming out. He just said he was doing his job.”

A council spokeswoman said there were no plans to charge Ms Sirhan for the service but said: “The council will always take prompt action to ensure the public’s safety.”

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