Westquay staff did 'nothing to help' mother after explosion

Lauren Scholes told the Echo that security staff at the shopping centre caused panic on Wednesday when they shouted “you need to get out” after a bang echoed through the Podium car park.

A van had caught fire outside, with a gas canister exploding and shooting a fireball into the sky.

“I’d got there 30 seconds before it happened, parked the car and got my son out,” Lauren said.

“I heard the explosion, and being in the car park it sounded like a bomb had gone off.”

With no idea what had happened, Lauren sought out a member of security stood by the car park’s Shopmobility section.

READ MORE: All we know after explosion sees Westquay evacuated

She said she was just told “you need to get out” and as she tried to take her pushchair into the lift, she was told to get onto an escalator that would take her into the main shopping centre.

“There was a person with special needs there and they tried to get in the lift, and then I heard another bang,” Lauren said.

“At that point she hadn’t said it was a vehicle, we just heard explosions. It could’ve been anything. I honestly thought it was bombs, probably with how it echoed out the car park.”

Lauren had her 10-month-old son in the pushchair, which she tried to get onto the escalator.

Plumes of smoke were sent billowing above Westquay when a van exploded on Wednesday morning. (Image: Jack Glennie) “Three security followed me up the escalator and at no point did they offer to help me, they just watched me struggle,” she explained.

Lauren said that in the panic of trying to get out, her son was not strapped in the pushchair properly.

READ MORE: Drone pictures at Westquay in Southampton as van explodes in fireball

She explained: “He could’ve fallen out, I could’ve fallen out of the escalator, and I had to do it on two escalators. At no point did any of those three staff do anything.

“Everyone told us to get out, but nobody was helping, [it was] find your own way out.”

The escalator took Lauren and her son into the main Westquay North shopping centre, where a fire alarm was sounding which told people to leave immediately.

“They were almost putting you in more danger by doing that,” she said.

“I got the impression that they were really panicking, and if they’re members of security they need to have a level of professionalism and calmness in an emergency.

“If somebody was in a wheelchair, I don’t know what they would’ve done.”

A spokesperson for Westquay said: “The health and safety of our visitors is always paramount.

"This week’s event was fast-evolving and all efforts were made to manage it in a professional and safe way, in line with our rigorous processes.

"We have not received any direct complaints about the handling of the event however we will certainly investigate this particular situation and have already tried to reach the party involved.”