Southend Council community safety officers ‘dump drunk man in carpark’

CCTV footage seen by the Echo shows Southend Council community safety officers carrying the drunken man into Marine Parade Spar car park, off Pleasant Road, at midday on Saturday.

With the temperature approaching 30c, the officers put the man, who appears unable to stay on his feet, in a chair in the shade and gave him a bottle of water before leaving the scene.

The council stressed officers placed the man in the shade with water and to avoid sun stroke.

The officers were then called to help find a missing child, the council says.

READ MORE:

• 'Drug addicts and drinkers allegedly turn churchyard into all-day party spot'

Spar owner Paul Thompson has blasted the council officers for a “dereliction of duty” he was forced to call the police to collect the man.

“The council’s lot have brought him off the seafront onto my property and dumped him in a private carpark where I have delivery vans coming and going regularly,” Mr Thompson said.

Council officers help them man into the car park

“It’s a complete dereliction of duty.

“If the bloke had died or been run over what then? He could have easily choked on his own sick.”

Mr Thompson says he discovered the man after a member of staff raised the alarm.

He is so drunk he falls over as they put him in a chair in the shade with some water

“I only found out how he came to bet there after reviewing the CCTV, the officers didn’t report it to me or anything.

“This guy was completely off it, 100 per cent paralytic. He couldn’t talk or stand on his own or anything."

Before leaving him alone

Mr Thompson, who owns a number of seafront businesses, said it was an hour before police arrived to remove the man and get him medical attention.

He added: “The seafront can be bad enough for anti-social behaviour and drunkenness on hot days as it is, the last thing we need is council officers doing stuff like this.”

A council spokesman said: “Over the weekend, officers responded to a drunk individual that, for health and safety reasons, was placed in the shade of a nearby car park, on a chair and with some water provided by our officers, to help him sober up and avoid any risk of sun stroke for example.

"Our colleagues from Triple L assisted the Community Safety Officers and offered him medical assistance which he declined.

"The officers were then called to help find a missing child, meaning they had to leave the individual in the car park. It is important to stress that the officers always put public safety at the forefront of their mindset, and given the speed in which they needed to respond to assist help find the missing child, they took the decision to leave the individual safely in the shaded area.

"As they were about to return to the gentleman, Police colleagues radioed to say that they had resolved the situation. It was only at this point that they took a break for lunch. However, before they could finish their food, they received a new request regarding another missing child, as such their break was cut short, and they immediately resumed their duties.”