Southampton police station legionella: Police officer speaks out

Regular tests discovered water in the Western Primary Investigation Centre (PIC) in Southern Road was infected with bacteria.

In an email sent out on Friday, staff were told the water supply had been closed off and engineers would be on site over the weekend to flush out and sanitise the system.

Works to do this were completed yesterday. However, a police officer, who did not wish to be named, said he is “extremely angry” at how the issue has been dealt with.

Southampton Western Police Investigation Centre (Image: Newsquest)

READ MORE: What we know after Southampton police station hit by legionella outbreak

He said: “The problems with the water have been known about for the past month, with the smell of dank water permeating a large part of the building for that time.

“Whilst management has clearly been aware of the issues, they have taken all this time to take any decisive action.

“Several of my colleagues have been taken ill during this period and several of them have been showing symptoms of legionella infection.

“Some of these people are already vulnerable due to existing health conditions.

“Others and I are extremely angry about (Friday's) developments.

“After being at work all day and drinking plenty of cold water and hot drink, we then received an email updating us on the current outbreak.

“Since then, we have also been informed that whilst the custody block is being closed and all current prisoners will be transported to another police station, with no new ones being brought into the police station.

“We accept we still have the responsibility of getting our jobs done in order to keep the public safe and protect the city, however, we don't accept that the police management is happy to gamble with our health.”

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Hampshire police has since confirmed the most recent tests took place on November 3, but legionella was only identified on Friday, November 11 - the day staff were alerted via email.

Responding to the officer's concerns, Hampshire Constabulary said measures to address the outbreak were put in place "immediately".

A spokesperson said: “The safety of our officers and staff is always our priority and measures were immediately put in place to address the issue and ensure those working at the building could continue to do so.

“The water supply has been closed off and engineers are on-site to ensure the entire system is flushed and pasteurised. Bottled water and hand sanitiser has been delivered to ensure business continuity.”

They added: “A separate water supply that utilises collected rainwater is used in the building to flush toilets.

“This system has since been thoroughly cleaned and has had no impact on the discovery of legionella in the main water supply for the building.”

Police said the outbreak had no impact on their operations across the city.

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