A huge change has come to some motorways in Merseyside after police "struggled" to reach an "individual in crisis" on a motorway bridge.
This week Wirral motorists may notice a change along the M53 as new "location signs" have been introduced to the borough. The signs - part of a joint project between Merseyside Police and Wirral Council - can be spotted on the bridges over the M53 motorway alongside a Samaritans sign and display a number unique to that bridge.
The signs have been implemented to allow police to access people "in crisis" more quickly, as police have previously struggled to locate a member of the public in a crisis state due to the similarity of each bridge along the motorway. Explaining the reasoning behind the new initiative, Merseyside Police's Sergeant Haydn Ward spoke about his own experiences when trying to locate a person in crisis.
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Sergeant Ward, of the Wirral community policing team, said: "I can remember responding to a report of an individual in crisis on one of our motorway bridges over the M53 and really struggling to find the exact location. But I'm now proud to introduce these new location signs on our motorway bridges.
"If you're a member of the public reporting somebody in crisis you can quote the number, give it to our call handler and we'll now be able to get officers to you immediately."
On their Facebook page, Wirral Council said: "A series of numbered signs have been installed on Wirral's motorway bridges to enable the public and emergency services to identify their location when needed – such as traffic collisions and crisis situations. This can help speed up response times in the event of an emergency."
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