Wiltshire park to fully reopen after asbestos scare

Westbury Town Council says a specialist investigation has found no asbestos in soil samples taken from the area of Penleigh Park where a contaminated fragment was discovered in June.

The park was partially fenced off after a member of the public alerted the council to a small fragment of material within excavated soil left on site following the construction of a new pedestrian path.

The fragment, described by the council as being approximately thumbnail-sized, was sent for laboratory testing and was confirmed to contain asbestos.

Following the discovery, the council notified the Health and Safety Executive and Wiltshire Council, fenced off affected areas and commissioned an accredited specialist company to investigate whether there was any wider contamination.

The council has now clarified that while the initial fragment contained asbestos, the wider investigation produced different findings.

Parts of Penleigh Park have been fenced off due to the find. (Image: Rob Greatwood)

Town clerk Deborah Urch said: "Initially, one small fragment, approximately thumbnail-sized, was discovered and subsequently identified through laboratory analysis as containing asbestos.

"Following this finding, the town council commissioned an accredited specialist company to undertake a wider investigation of the soil mounds in the area where the fragment had been discovered.

"As part of that investigation, no asbestos was identified in the samples analysed."

Notices were put up warning people of the asbestos. (Image: Rob Greatwood)

The specialist assessment included the soil mounds where the original fragment was found and involved both soil sampling and laboratory analysis.

Westbury Town Council said it wanted to draw a distinction between the isolated fragment identified in June and the results of the subsequent investigation, which found no asbestos in the tested samples.

Despite those findings, the authority decided to remove the soil mounds from the site.

The council said this was done "as an additional precaution and to provide further reassurance to the public".

The council has removed mounds of soil as a precaution. (Image: Rob Greatwood)

Questions had recently been raised after residents spotted fresh excavation work taking place within the park.

However, the council said those works were unrelated to the asbestos investigation and instead formed part of a community garden and art project, including the installation of a gravel path around the community garden.

Soil generated by those works is also being removed from the site as part of the project's completion and is not being redistributed elsewhere within the park.

The council expects the affected areas of Penleigh Park to reopen this week, subject to the completion of the remaining works.