'It's like the Third World'

James Kell • Published 20 Nov 2009 11:00 0 Comments

ANGRY neighbours blasted council negligence yesterday after a rusting lamp-post snapped and crashed onto the roof of a parade of shops.

The lamp standard embedded itself in the roof of a top-floor flat around breakfast time, sending tiles flying into the street below.

The incident (pictured) blacked out traffic lights on the pedestrian crossing in Reading's Whitley Street until lunchtime yesterday (Wednesday) but horrified residents expressed relief that the post had not toppled in the other direction and smashed down on slow-moving traffic heading in and out of town.

The occupants of the flat, above the Warwara Off Licence, are understood to have left for work before it happened.

Ray Bailey, who lives in nearby Milman Road, saw the fallen lamp-post when he went to collect his morning newspaper. He said: "If one has gone then others are bound to be corroded too. It's like something out of the Third World.

"It can only be negligence because a lamp-post doesn't just rust overnight, it must have happened over a long period of time.

"It's amazing that no-one was killed or injured."

He said: "The Whitley Street shops are hugely busy and the shopkeepers must pay a lot of money to the council in business rates, but the condition of the pavements and street furniture is quite appalling and the council spend nothing on upkeep.

"You can clearly see the rust round the base of the lamp-post." Mr Bailey added: "I understand that resources are tight but how many times in Reading do you pass roadworks on roads that seem to be completely satisfactory?"

Najeeb Khan, a worker at Warwara Off Licence, said: "It was like that when I opened at 10am. The police were already here and they had called the electricity company."

Udo Heinze, 19, who lives in the downstairs flat next door, said: "When I came out it had fallen and there were tiles all over the ground."

Engineers from Southern Electric spent the morning at the scene, disposing of the lamp standard and restoring power to the street lighting and traffic signals.

Street lighting is the responsibility of Reading Borough Council which yesterday launched an inquiry.

Spokesman Oscar Mortali said the lamp-post came from "older stock" and added: "The building control team have been on site and made the building safe. All lamp-posts are inspected visually on an annual basis. The council is looking into the reasons for this incident."

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