Door staff on duty at council house after protest

Dudley Council is employing security guards after protestors gained access to the Council House while a meeting was taking place.

The incident took place on September 8 while a meeting of the authority’s Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee was under way in the building.

A short meeting of the full council had also taken place on the same evening and a group of protestors gathered outside the council’s headquarters, on Priory Road, before the meetings began.

During the evening four people entered the Council House via a back door used by councillors and staff but were unable to get through a second locked door and left the building within a minute.

Councillor Phil Atkins, Dudley cabinet member for development and regulation, said: “The safety of staff, councillors and those visiting the Council House is a top priority and we are working with the police to ensure no future incidents happen.

“We have carried out a review of security at the council house and, as a result, security guards are currently being employed for all evening meetings at the Council House until further notice.”

Although the unwanted visitors failed to disrupt the meetings, the protest prompted a change of venue for the scrutiny committee which moved from a meeting room at the front of the building to a location at the rear.

While police were on duty at the Council House when the protest against illegal immigration and asylum hotels began, officers left the scene before the demonstration ended.

Cllr Andrew Tromans, chair of the council’s Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, said: “Peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy, I should know, I have organised a few myself on the steps of the Council House.

“It is a sad reflection of where we are that it is now necessary to have private security staff stationed at the Council House to protect elected members and staff.”