Who am I?

I am Rosina James a mum to two boys and I live on Council owned Ash Oaks Caravan Park in Wareham, Dorset. 

I am taking a private prosecution action against Dorset County Council due to a barrier at the entrance of Ash Oaks Caravan park restricting access to emergency vehicles. It’s time to make our home a safe place for everyone to live with unrestricted access to emergency services when required.

My family's story

The reason I am doing this is that on the 14th April 2020, my then 4 week old son Alber suddenly turned blue, his chest started dipping in and he was having trouble breathing.

I called 999 and was told they would send an ambulance straight away, I sat, holding my baby, I was in tears looking out the window waiting to see the lights of the ambulance reach our caravan. 

Instead we received a call from the control centre explaining that the crew had arrived, but were stuck on the other side of the barrier and couldn’t get to my son.

This barrier (see image below) is the only access to the caravan park with a height restriction. It’s locked with a 4 digit padlock. If we had the code to the barrier it would have been open ready for their arrival but the Landlord will not permit the residents access to the code. 

After frantic calls to the Emergency Contact (the liaison officer from the council), I had to leave voicemail messages as the calls were unanswered. Even though the ambulance crew had the code, access was still delayed due to the lock being so high up. It was 3am so it was dark and hard to see, the combination was not only difficult to see but the lock was rusty all wasting precious time. My husband and one of the crew members stood at the barrier with phone torches whilst another crew member balanced on a concrete block attempting to unlock the padlock. Meanwhile I am cuddling my baby and looking after my other son. Eventually they gained entry and drove up to my son with my husband running alongside them. The ambulance crew eventually got to my son, they were fantastic and luckily we were able to get him back to breathing properly without needing to attend the hospital. He is now doing really well at 7 months old.

Serious safety concerns

I and other residents have been assured many times by the council officers that access to Ash Oaks Caravan Park is easy for emergency services to attend, but I myself approached the fire service and was informed that they did not have the code and had never had this code.

Why I'm taking legal action

The reason it has come to this is that I have tried many times to speak with members of the council about the code being given to residents or the barrier being removed but I was told this was not allowed for various reasons. This isn’t the first time an incident has happened, there have been similar incidents to mine. 

Every time that one of my children show any signs of being unwell I start to panic as I wonder if we need any assistance from emergency services are they going to be able to reach my children in time.

How can you help?

I hope that with your help from donations and sharing this page that we can make a change. Please do share the page on social media, via email or WhatsApp.

I am looking to raise funds to help with legal fees to allow me to take my case to court and prosecute the council.  It is a criminal offence to obstruct or hinder emergency services and I hope that if the Court finds the council guilty that the council will decide to remove the barrier altogether.  It may even have an impact on other sites up and down the country with the same problem.

Thank you for taking the time to let me share my experience with you.