River Mersey: Sergeant's signs aim 'to prevent suicides'
- Published
Each sign has a number so emergency services can pinpoint locations and respond quicker
A police officer's struggles to help a woman in danger have led to signs aimed at preventing "suicides and other tragic incidents" being installed along the banks of the River Mersey.
Sgt Antony Lorenzelli said the idea for the markers came to him after police had difficulties finding where a woman had gone into the water.
Each sign has a specific number, which will allow locations to be pinpointed.
They will "prove vital in protecting those in need", Sgt Lorenzelli said.
Merseyside Police received 63 "concerns for safety" reports in 2020, with response time being between four and 20 minutes.
'Not good enough'
Sgt Lorenzelli said "more often that not", it took "much longer" than four minutes to get to a location and that "increased the risk of being too late."
He said it had taken 20 minutes to reach the woman who had entered the river and though she was rescued and recovered, he thought it was "not good enough".
"It got me thinking, what can I do to change this?" he said.
"I started looking into the idea of signs and following a lot of research... I eventually secured funding for these signs, which I think will prove vital in protecting those in need."
He said the signs, which include details for the emotional support charity Samaritans, will "feature the numbers one to 58 and will be fitted to the railings 50m apart from one another" and work with the location app What3Words, "which will again give us the means to pinpoint exactly where an incident has taken place".
He added that he was "proud that the signs are now in use and I really do hope that by having them, we can attend incidents quicker".
Merseyside Police, Mersey Water Safety Forum, the Canal and River Trust, Samaritans and Royal National Lifeboat Institution have worked on the project, which has been funded by Liverpool City Council.
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, external, Twitter, external and Instagram, external? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk