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Police Scotland have apologised to women who complained about feeling unsafe last night after road closures forced them to walk through a poorly lit Kelvingrove park in Glasgow.
Diversions were put in place at the last minute due to VIPs attending the Prime Minister’s COP26 dinner at the Kelvingrove Museum.
Guests included world leaders and royalty such as Prince Charles, Prince William and his wife, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Kelvin Way and other road closures meant that people who were on foot had to walk through the park to get home with some saying on social media that parts of their journey were in complete darkness.
Many women took to social media to highlight this issue, because they felt extremely unsafe and uncomfortable despite there being a police presence in the park.
A person relying on their phone flashlight to see where they’re going to get home safely.
Some commenters online stated that lone women banded together to get home safely as they walked through the park.
Locals in the area have been campaigning for Glasgow City Council to install proper and permanent lighting in the Glasgow Park for years, with most admitting to avoiding the route at night unless they absolutely have to and that was before COP26.
There was a petition for proper lighting in the park to be installed that gained over 100,000 signatures after the tragic murder of Sarah Everard.
Another example of just how dark it was in the park last night
Currently, Glasgow City Council does not have any plans to install permanent lighting at the park and this is something that Police Scotland say they’ll be addressing with the local authority.
Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie from Police Scotland said: “Residents were diverted on their way home, including on foot through Kelvingrove Park, following real-time changes to operational plans on Monday night.
“While late changes and some level of disruption is inevitable when policing an event the size and scale of COP26, we understand and apologise for the concern these changes caused and for the inconvenience to those diverted.
“We do, in particular, recognise and acknowledge the commentary from some women who had to walk through the park on their own last night, we want to keep everyone safe and we know that the onus is on us to recognise when we could provide some more support and visibility to reassure people in our communities.
Although the diversions are no longer in place officers say that if last-minute diversions are needed again, they will “look to establish additional patrols in the area to provide reassurance.”
Images Courtesy of @Tmaxx400 on twitter. No edits or changes were made any of the images.
