Wirral: Builder faced daily abuse over £19.7m sea wall project

Construction worker Eric Wade said he was just doing what he was asked to do

A builder said he faced daily abuse while working on a controversial £19.7million sea wall project.

Eric Wade said he "put up with seven months of daily abuse" while working on sea defences in West Kirby, Merseyside.

The project was built between 2022 and 2023 to protect a number of properties along the seafront as well as save lives during storms.

It faced petitions and opposition during its build but Wirral Council said public opinion had now improved.

'We had to call the police'

Mr Wade, from Wallasey, said he had "never been spoken to so badly in my life" while working on the wall on behalf of VolkerStevin.

Numerous police calls were made during its construction, following reports of abuse, littering of faeces and trespassing.

He said: "We had a lot of people not wanting us there.

"You obviously got a mouthful trying to stop them coming through. I couldn't physically stop them but they were putting themselves in danger.

"We had people parking their cars in the way on the road. It would stop the job. We had to call the police a few times."

Wirral Council said they had since received positive comments about the sea wall

Mr Wade said one woman kicked and banged on his car while others left "dog poo inside the water weights used to keep fencing in place".

"It was quite an experience," Mr Wade said.

"I think people like me, we were just trying to make a living.

"We never designed it and we never said the costs would go up so much further. We were just doing what we were asked to do."

'Disgusting behaviour'

Councillor Liz Grey, chair of Wirral Council's environment committee and supporter of the project, said many people had told her they had changed their mind since construction finished.

While she said this was the first time she was aware of abuse, she called the dog fouling accusations "disgusting behaviour".

She said: "I am really upset and disappointed that some members of the public thought it was appropriate to talk to people in that way.

"It must have been so frustrating for the workers who would have had to go out of their way to clean up and move things again.

"I am really sorry to hear what they went through because all we saw was really hard and efficient work."

A spokesperson for VolkerStevin said the "welfare" of employees had always been a "priority" and it had a customer team based on site for members of the public to direct queries.

Councillors Andrew Gardner and Tony Cox, who previously criticised the sea wall project, did not respond to a request for comment.