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Amateur film-makers show derelict hospital footage on popular internet site
By David Simister
Dog dives in to
save woman
ST ASAPH has its very own Lassie!
Last Thursday lunchtime, when Brenda
Owen-Howardson was walking her black
Labrador retriever Penny along the cycle
path in Roe Park, St Asaph, she came across
a woman who was unconscious in the river.
Brenda told the Vale Advertiser her story.
“Penny will retrieve anything, so when I
saw the woman I pretended to throw
something towards her – Penny went in and
dragged her out,” said Brenda.
The woman was taken away in an ambulance
to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan.
PC Peter Evans, who along with PC Vicky
Anderton was the first to arrive at the scene,
described the incident: “We had a call saying
that a woman had been pulled from the river
and when we got there the woman was
conscious but complaining of back pain.”
■ Read more at www.yourvale.co.uk
INTERNET video footage
hasbeenreleasedthisweek
which shows amateur film-
makers breaking into a de-
caying Denbigh building.
The film, which is available on video-
sharing site YouTube, shows a group of
unnamed males illegally entering the
site of the former North Wales Hospital
inDenbighanddocumentingthestateof
the site, which shut its doors in 1995.
Denbigh county councillor Ray
Bartley has slammed the group for their
actions.
“It’s scandalous that this has been
allowed to happen. Here we are trying to
get something done for the hospital and
its security situation, and then this
group comes along and makes it worse,”
said Cllr Bartley.
“Everybody in North Wales has seen
what has happened to this hospital. It’s
crumbling away as it is and I think it’s
terrible that these people have gone in at
theriskofmakingitworse.Thesecurity
situation really needs to be tightened up
as it’s absolutely diabolical this has
happened.”
The footage is hosted anonymously by
a web user known only as Ultra2040,
andshowsagroupofmalesexploring
the abandoned hospital, which
dates back to the 1840s.
At the time of writing the
footage had attracted more
than 1,300 hits.
One online user
replied to the foot-
age by relating
his own al-
leged ex-
ploration of the site: “I've been, it was a
really funny and scary experience... saw
themorgueandtheinsideisreallybadly
abandoned... the four of us got chased by
the guards who saw us on the way
out.”
Tags attached to the video indicate the
film is linked to the hobby of urban
exploration, which has gained popular-
ity in recent years in the wake of satel-
lite TV series Urban Explorers.
North Wales Police have been working
with the hospital’s owners to renew its
windows and doors, but say that groups
breaking in are causing damage on a
regular basis.
District Inspector Mike Hughes said:
“We have made a number of arrests on
several occasions over the last 12
months and regular patrols are carried
out in the area. Breaking into the site
and causing damage is unacceptable
and extremely dangerous and I would
urge anyone who has information to
contact us immediately.”
The Vale Advertiser reported in March
that the Grade II building has been
earmarked for partial demolition by
current owners Acebench Limited, who
want to adapt the site for residential and
business uses.
david.simister@northwalesnews.co.uk
BREAK-IN: A group of people
has broken into Denbigh
Hospital and filmed videos for
the popular YouTube site.
BBC Young Musician of the Year
comes to theatre – page 11
Reporter David Simister
takes to the skies – page 9
STRING STAR
SUPERSTAR!
STRING STAR
SUPERSTAR!
UP, UP, AND
AWAY!
UP, UP, AND
AWAY!
BREAK-IN
VIDEO SCANDAL
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