Calls for CCTV on York river after student’s death

Friends of tragic York student Megan Roberts have joined calls for more CCTV cameras to be installed by the city’s rivers to spare other families future heartache.
Megan RobertsMegan Roberts
Megan Roberts

More than 1,000 people have so far signed a petition demanding improved coverage “in the dangerous areas” of York after the 20-year-old’s body was found in the River Ouse.

It comes as police continue their search for missing 22-year-old Ben Clarkson, who went missing in York in the early hours of Sunday, in locations including the city’s River Foss.

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Megan, from Wetherby, was spotted on CCTV with a group of people on one side of Lendal Bridge in the city centre on the night she went missing, but was not visible after the group had crossed the river.

Megan RobertsMegan Roberts
Megan Roberts

North Yorkshire Police said last month that the most likely scenario is that the York St John University student fell in the river while “affected by alcohol” after a night out with friends on January 23.

A petition on the ipetitions.com website calling for the introduction of “cameras in the dangerous areas of York such as Lendall Bridge and around Ouse River”, had received more than 1,200 signatures by 5pm yesterday.

Its creators wrote: “The main purpose of getting CCTV around York, focusing on the river areas, is to prevent any more of the horrible unanswered questions of missing people. For example the terrible case with Megan Roberts when she entered the river as well as many other tragic cases.

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“CCTV would save a lot of police time and could also protect people from being in vulnerable situations. It will provide more evidential information for not only the police but also the families and friends of the victim involved.”

A message left on a Facebook page set up by Megan’s friends to help find the student urged people to support the petition.

It said: “I do hope you will agree with it and be willing to sign up. Thanks to everyone for their support that has been given over the past few weeks. Truly means the world.”

Many visitors to the page also backed the campaign. One, Emma Bell, wrote: “Cameras wouldn’t have stopped Megan from falling in but it would have let her family and friends know what happened to her weeks ago.

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“I know that the not knowing was really hard on all of them. More needs to be done about certain areas of the river.”

But another Facebook user, Jeannot Gérard, wrote: “No camera would have been of use in the present case. Building railings and fences along the Ouse banks is the only sensible action to take. Public funds could and should be devoted to it, but could also be privately raised among the numerous revellers.”

Brian Watson, a councillor in the ward covering the city centre, said incidents of people falling into the river were “far too frequent”.

He said: “One is enough but we have had quite a few. There has got to be something done, what the answer is I don’t know. It needs some discussion between the police, ambulance and maybe river authorities as well.

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“We have a lot of drinking establishments that are at the riverside. I am not saying it is a recipe for disaster but it does lead to a lot of problems.”

Megan’s body was seen in the Ouse at Acaster Malbis by a member of the public and recovered on Sunday. An inquest was opened and adjourned on Tuesday.

In a joint statement from the River Ouse Safety Group, which includes York council, police, ambulance and fire service, said: “As a group we are determined to work with colleagues across the city to prevent river-related incidents where we can.

“We urge everyone who is out and about in the city centre to watch out for each other and stay together when heading home so that should an accident occur, there is someone to raise the alarm.”

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Police are continuing to search the River Foss in York, among other places, for missing Ben Clarkson, 22, last seen at 3.40am on Sunday in Layerthorpe, near the junction of James Street.

Officers have searched Ben’s route home from Stonebow to Heworth Green, while the regional underwater search team and a trained scent dog have been brought in.

There have been a number of reported sightings of Ben since he was reported missing but none have been confirmed. He was last seen wearing dark skinny jeans, a grey t-shirt with an Eiffel Tower logo on the front and dark pumps with white trim and white toe caps.

Anyone with information should contact North Yorkshire Police on 101.