A council is reviewing its emergency procedures after a senior boss reversed her car in an assembly point packed with people during a major disaster drill.
Bucks County Council’s strategic director Gill Hibberd, who earns £140,000 a year, reversed her silver convertible Peugeot car out from the busy assembly point near Odeon cinema while hundreds of staff waited to return to county hall.
An eyewitness said: “It seemed tensions were getting quite fraught between her and the security people who didn’t want to let her out.
He added: “There were lots of people standing in the car park so it could have been quite dangerous.”
{http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/updated-secret-evacuation-drill-was-first-of-its-kind-at-county-hall-1-5276123|The council held the secret evacuation drill yesterday to test how it would operate in a major emergency.|link to story}.
Chief executive Chris Williams has sent an email to staff informing them Ms Hibberd had an emergency to attend.
The council refused to say what it was but said that staff were only allowed to leave if they had a serious hospital appointment, childcare matters or care for a relative to attend.
A spokesman said: “Chris Williams has agreed to review the whole situation.
“We were in our most serious state of emergency at that point. This drill has revealed those sort of things that need to be reviewed.”