A load of bollards as 999 crew is delayed
Demands to stop danger pole before it is too late
Lives are being put at risk in the heart of Ayr because of a robot bollard.
Emergency services cannot get vehicles down busy Newmarket Street during the day - to the fury of shopkeepers.
On Saturday morning, Pos t photographer Euan McCall captured an ambulance crew responding to an emergency call.
They tried in vain to get access to the street and had to continue the rescue on foot, abandoning the ambulance over the pavement.
It’s at least the second time an ambulance crew have been blocked in recent months.
The last time an elderly man collapsed half way down Newmarket Street and had to be stretchered out, losing many minutes in getting him to treatment.
The £ 21,000 bollard is in operation during the day preventing all traffic entering the pedestrianised street.
The intercom is supposed to be answered remotely and the bollard automatically lowered.
Jean Ingram, owner of Table Topper, said: “People are at risk and so are re buildings due to fire - that intercom is never answered.
“None of the emergency services can an get access and it is dangerous.
“From day one, this system has not ot worked. “Nobody ever answers the intercom.” .” She added: “The bollard should remain n down until this issue is addressed once e and for all.”
The ambulance service was asked to comment about the issue of not being able to get drive down Newmarket Street t in emergencies.
A spokesperson would only respond: “We received a call at 11.22 hours on Saturday, November 3, to attend an incident on Newmarket Street, Ayr.
“We dispatched one ambulance and arrived on scene at 11.34.
“Our crew did not experience a delay attending to the patient.”
But onlookers said that response was as “codswallop.”
One said: “The male crewman had to get out his cab and was pressing a few buttons and nothing was happening.
“A female shop assistant then came out and tried to remove one of the bollards, but the crewman said there was no point, they still w wouldn’t be able ab to get in. “The Th male and female fe then had to walk much of the way down the street.” The bollard was funded by South Ayrshire Council and rises at 10am before falling at 4.30pm. Stewart Turner, head of operator Ayrshire Roads Alliance said: “The codes to lower the bollard on Newmarket Street are known by local ambulance crews and we’ve not been advised of any issues experienced by them when trying to gain access to the street.
“However, it is possible that a crew from outside the local area has attended a call on Newmarket Street.
“The retailers and the Ayrshire Post have raised fair and legitimate concerns and, listening to the points made, the access code for the bollard has now been sent to control operators to enable all crews to have access to the street.”