Cooper's Hill near Brockworth, is 4 miles southeast of Gloucester
and is on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment.
Cooper's Hill - Terrorism &
Evacuation Considerations
Cooper's Hill and some of the
surrounding area is a Local Nature Reserve to which the public have free and
unlimited access. There are multiple access routes to the site and members
of the public are free to visit the site without any form of permission or
checks.
The British Government has recently
(September 2010), warned of the increased risk of terrorist attacks in mainland
Great Britain as well as in Continental Europe and has maintained the risk level at "Severe".
Due to the large numbers of people
attending the event in recent years and the confined nature of many parts of the
area, access roads, pathways and the immediate confines of the hill itself
result in places in very tightly packed crowds.
Escape from the immediate vicinity of
the Cheese Rolling course and spectator areas, in the event of an incident or
emergency would, due to the nature of the site prove difficult. There is the
ever present risk of serious personal injury, should there be a panic amongst
the crowd.
It would be wise, whenever deciding to
travel to congested locations and events, to be aware of the possibility,
however unlikely, of an attack or other emergency.
Public attending the site, should upon
arrival, familiarise themselves with the layout of the area and should formulate
a plan for themselves in their particular location, to evacuate the site should
an emergency arise. In particular, the roads should be kept clear for emergency
vehicles.
BBC Radio 4 Today Program on the 4th of
October 2010 carried the following report by security correspondent Frank
Gardner who examines the current threat of terrorist attacks in Europe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9056000/9056734.stm
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