Security staff from inSwindon and The Brunel faced abuse from members of the public this afternoon, after they closed part of Swindon town centre for safety reasons.
Winds caused a chimney on the roof of The Crossing to become lose, meaning a large chunk of the town centre – between Lush and Starbucks – had to be closed because of the risk of falling debris.
Some members of the public shouted obscenities at security staff and made offensive hand gestures before finally moving away from the cordon and taking a different route.
Deputy manager of The Brunel, Jane Stewart, said: “Today’s extremely high winds caused extractor ducting on the roof of The Brunel Shopping centre to move.  We immediately cordoned off an area of Canal Walk as a precautionary measure until we could secure the item.
“With the assistance of the fire brigade the ducting was made safe. Canal Walk was reopened at 2pm.  We’d like to thank the fire brigade for attending so swiftly and shoppers for being patient during the disruption.”
The area reopened at 2.10pm, as firefighters removed the unstable chimney and declared the area safe.
