I was pleased to see that the safety of those running in the Chippenham Half Marathon was considered carefully by the organisers/council/police this year.
Unfortunately, this was not the case for those people wanting to use the Stanley Park facility as people were turned away despite the organisers’ website stating that Stanley Lane would remain open.
The idea from the solitary PC on the scene was to abandon your car and walk along the A4. This led to a scene of children (some as young as seven) risking life and limb on an incredibly busy road. The path quickly became blocked with cars/overgrown verges forcing people onto the highway on which cars are entitled to travel at 50mph. This further emphasises the need for an entrance into Stanley Park from the A4.
I have to say this is completely unacceptable that no one has had the intelligence to realise that Sundays at Stanley Park are incredibly busy with 400 to 500 people using it. Why was there no plan in place to facilitate this?
I have to say I feel really let down by the police and the organisers who, while protecting the safety of one group of people, completely failed mine and the hundreds of other Stanley Park users.
Shame on you all.
ALEX PROWTING Ripon Close, Chippenham
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