Campaign sparked after worker shot at with crossbow

Workers have said the abuse has negatively impacted their mental health

A campaign has been launched to tackle violent abuse against highway workers after one was shot at with a crossbow while picking up litter.

Within the last year there were more than 302 cases of abuse across the West Midlands, according to new data from the Think Respect campaign.

Of those, there were 21 involving physical abuse including violence and instances of spitting in the workers’ faces.

Across the UK, 80% of all road workers and other people working on the highway have reported being abused on a monthly basis.

Sinead Ryan says she has had a gun pulled on her while working at a petrol station

The figures have been released with the aim of raising awareness of the challenges public-facing workers experience, campaigners say.

Site foreman Sinead Ryan said, “It’s almost every night, sometimes more. Most of the time it's just people screaming abuse at you but it can be worse, meaning you have to lock yourself in your van and one time I had a gun pulled on me in a petrol station by an irate member of the public.”

'Constant torrent of abuse'

Steve Day, contracts manager at Go Traffic Management added: “This has a massive impact [on the mental health of people], nobody likes to go to work and find themselves subjected to a constant torrent of abuse, let alone to have this every day.”

Sian Plant, 26, has been a traffic officer for National Highways for two years and says the worst of the abuse appears to happen at night.

She said: “We get it quite often, a guy got in my face and was pushing me back. He was screaming in my face then got into his car and drove at me to try and intimidate me.

“A colleague had to press our emergency button and got the police to come and deal with the incident.

Sian Plant says the abuse appears to be worse at night

“It can be a little bit unnerving, especially on a night shift because there seems to be a different type of driver out there and you don’t know who you’re going to come across.

“It’s quite scary sometimes.

“As a female, I get quite a lot of cat-calling. It's not nice, men out there think it's okay to pop the horn and shout things at me.

“People who've been in the job longer than me have said that in the last couple of years, especially since Covid-19, the driving standard has changed. Not for the better.”

Ryan Adams, who has been a traffic manager for Go Traffic Management for two-and-a-half years, says the abuse happens almost daily.

He added: “It has risen a lot in that time - when you’re setting up traffic lights, closures or maintaining the road, that’s when you get the most abuse.

“You get shouted at, people throw bottles or any object they can reach at you, people drive at you, try to pick fights and often shout abusive language.

“People need to have a lot more respect, we see thousands of people driving every day.

Kevin Robinson, founder and campaign director of Think Respect added: “The significant increase in workforce abuse in the West Midlands against those who work on the public highway is sadly rising not only there but in every part of the country.

“This has become a societal problem that is getting worse by the day.”