A Wiltshire woman has started a petition to urge the council to install anti-suicide barriers at a multi-storey car park after her dad took his own life there just last year.
Emergency services were called to St Stephen’s Place car park in Trowbridge on 30 September 2019, after 55-year-old Michael Elliott fell from the rooftop at around 5.20pm, as diners looked on in horror.
In recent weeks police officers and paramedics have been called to the building on many occasions following calls about concerns for welfare, sparking grieving Hannah-Grace Elliott to start a petition which has already amassed over 700 signatures.
The 25-year-old, who is from Hilperton but is currently attending the Royal Hollaway university, wants Wiltshire Council to look at a solution to stop vulnerable people taking their lives there.
“The number of suicides and suicide attempts there should have prompted action from the council years ago”, Hannah told Wiltshire 999s.
She added: “Although the situation is tragic, the only solution I can find within this is to try to ensure that suicide barriers are put in place so that this can’t happen again. If it prevents even one person from doing it then that’s all that matters.”
Michael, who worked for Herman Miller in Melksham, was described as someone who would ‘go out of his way to try and uplift other people’, despite struggling following the death of this mother and sister.
Sign the petition on change.org website here.
