Suicide prevention posts will be fitted on top of Chesterfield car park

Chesterfield Borough Council has granted conditional planning permission for Vicar Lane Shopping Centre to fit the steel posts on the top deck of its 390-space car park.

The news comes months after an inquest into the death of Jamie Ormiston, who fell from the Vicar Lane car park in summer 2015. The 39-year-old, of Longcroft Avenue, Dronfield, had a history of mental health issues.

Derbyshire police and a Chesterfield-based mental health organisation both backed the plans to fit the fences.

- Chesterfield would not be the first place to see suicide prevention barriers installed. Indeed, they already exist at many locations both here in the UK and across the globe. Barriers were installed at the Erskine Bridge, which spans the River Clyde in Scotland, five years ago. The so-called Luminous Veil consists of more than 9,000 steel rods, 12.7cm apart and 5m high, on the Prince Edward Viaduct in Canada. The Luminous Veil was in place by 2003 – after a total of nearly 500 people used the bridge to jump to their deaths. A 2010 study by the British Medical Journal found: “Although the barrier prevented deaths at the Prince Edward Viaduct, the rate of suicide by jumping in Toronto remained unchanged. This lack of change might have been due to a reciprocal increase in suicides from other bridges and buildings.” Meanwhile, after a long campaign, suicide prevention barriers are to be installed at the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area of America. Since it was erected in 1937, more than 1,700 people have jumped off the bridge and just 25 are known to have survived, according to Robert Olson, of the Centre for Suicide Prevention in Canada.

- The Samaritans provides a free, confidential listening service all day, every day, all year. Whatever you’re going through, you can call the helpline on 116 123 or email [email protected]. Visit www.samaritans.org.uk for details about the Samaritans. Mind offers information and advice to people suffering from mental health problems. Call the Mind Infoline on 0300 123 3393 or email [email protected]. Visit www.mind.org.uk for more information about Mind. For more information about Dora, visit dora-mentalhealth.org.uk