Monday, June 25

Natwest Waterlooville - passerby has a lucky escape

I think this post proves that keeping old photos and being in the right place at the right time can pay off. Recently The News reported that a van driver recently escaped death when a marble slab fell onto him from above as he was passing Natwest in Waterlooville.

I just happened to be in Waterlooville today and just happened to have my camera handy. OK yep, I was planning to take some photos of the building whilst also visiting the recycling centre and doing some shopping. But what I wasn't expecting was to see some people inspecting the building and also over hearing the general conversation!



The photo shows the 'inspectors' - probably from the insurance company and Natwest - looking up at where the marble panel was once fixed. The panel fell off the mounting and smashed on the floor. Those things are really heavy. Imagine if it had been the panel above the door whilst someone was walking in or out!

They have removed all three panels now, for obvious safety reasons. Whilst walking by the building I overheard the discussion, which seemed to suggest a number of panels are cracked or a bit loose, although they are mainly at ground level, so not as dangerous.

Some time ago I took some photos of the clocks viewable from the centre of Waterlooville, so I have dug out the one I took of Natwest a few years ago. Here it is:


In this photo you can clearly see the original panels. The middle panel clearly shows the Natwest logo.
Can't really get much worse for Natwest over this last week, what with the total cockup with their computer systems and this in Waterlooville. The impression one gets, is that they are trimming back on maintenance to much in a lot of areas.


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