大象传媒

Dorset Council has apologised after the parents of a young wheelchair user had to carry their son over a railway footbridge.

The closure of the pedestrian level crossing at Wareham station left Sam and Stefan Cole with no alternative step-free option when their train arrived at the station in the dark.

4 year old Stanley Cole, who lives with cerebral palsy, had been to Great Ormond Street, London, to collect some special equipment to help manage his condition.

Dorset Council currently has a 25 year lease agreement in place with Network Rail for pedestrian access over the level crossing, through railway land that expires in 2038. Network Rail told 大象传媒 Radio Solent that Dorset Council is 'responsibile for the day-to-day management' of the crossing - that responsibility includes its operation and the provision of suitably trained and qualified safety attendants.

Stan's mum Sam Cole told 大象传媒 Radio Solent: "it's kind of one of those added extra you could really do without. Having to bump him (Stan) and having to carry him up and down the steps is just kind of unnecessary, especially when there is a perfectly good crossing there."

John Sellgren, Executive Director, Dorset Council, said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been made aware of this unfortunate incident," adding that the council is "deeply sorry" and that "no apology can be enough". The Council acknowledged that the reduced crossing opening hours had been, "inconvenient" - and that it's been working to recruit more attendants to get the crossing back to its longer operating hours.

Over the past decade, plans to build a ramp to the listed railway footbridge to improve access have failed to materialise on three occasions. In 2013 planning permission was granted but the ramp wasn鈥檛 built - then in 2015 and again in 2018, planning permission was refused.

John Sellgren said: 鈥淲e can confirm that from Sunday (24 Nov) the level crossing will once again have three trained attendants, enabling it to return to openings hours that cover the first and last trains of the day 鈥� seven days a week. 鈥淲e鈥檙e continuing to work with partners on a long-term solution to improve accessibility over the railway line at Wareham Station.鈥�

In January 2019, a rail worker was suspended after a number of near miss incidents at the crossing.

Safety gates or barriers at the crossing have been operated by an attendant since 2010. The council said that the suspension earlier this year had been exacerbated by other staff sickness, forcing it to close the crossing at short notice. Since then, the crossing has been closed at different times, and this summer it only operated from 0600 to 1800 due to problems recruiting a qualified attendant.

Previously, the level crossing at Wareham was branded one of the most dangerous in the country. It's due to be shut as part of a national programme of closures over safety concerns, but a date has not been confirmed.

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