Action call over garage safety in Stroud Green

PCSO Michelle Davies said the compounds which are dotted between the houses were in an 'absolutely terrible' condition.

The garages were close to falling down and some of the vehicles in the compounds had been smashed beyond repair.

"Kids are getting on to the garages and ripping the roofs off. At some stage, someone is going to fall through one of the roofs," she stated.

"And someone is going to be really hurt. Someone is going to set fire to one of the cars and is going to be injured."

She has organised an environmental visual day in late April to try to start solving the problems.

Other organisations such as the fire and rescue service and Arun District Council will be involved.

PCSO Davies told Bersted Parish Council last weekthat action had to be taken.

"Residents are not taking responsibility for their own garages. I phoned up one of the owners of a car which has been trashed in a compound and he just put the phone down on me.

"That is what we are fighting against. The audit will solve some of the issues, particularly the parking around the estate," she stated.

The last audit there took place in October 2007. "Some of the problems which were arising then are still occurring now," said PCSO Davies.

Cllr Simon McDougall urged the involvement of a district council structural engineer on the day. He said: "The garages have been in some kind of disrepair for some time. A structural engineer could look at the safety of them.

"If they are a safety hazard, the owners of the garages could be taken to court and held responsible for the problems they have got."

Cllr George Short, who took a leading role in forming a residents' association for the estate, said it had proved difficult to get action taken against the garages.

Some had been removed but only if their walls were close to collapse next to a public footpath.

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