Man missing in flooding discarded by police, family say

A grieving father says he felt his son was "discarded" by police after he went missing in floodwater.

Alan Hirst, 19, was cycling home to Adforton, Herefordshire, in February when it is believed he fell from his bike on the flooded A4110 and suffered a cardiac arrest when he entered the water.

His family have raised concerns about the police search, with his father Steve telling the BBC: "It was like he was just discarded."

A coroner's report into Alan's death said a shortage of specialist search officers meant key decisions were not reviewed. In response, West Mercia Police said it was training more officers, with an increase expected in the coming months.

Alan's mother Hayley described her son as "very charismatic" with energy levels that were "off the Richter scale".

"You knew when he was in the room because it just lit up," she said.

Alan, originally from Blackpool, would normally come home late in the evening, but his family initially went to bed on 5 February without realising he had not returned.

His mother said she knew something was wrong the following day when the family came together after finishing work.

Alan's body was eventually found in a ditch along the A4110, the road he had been travelling along when he disappeared, on 8 February.

"You can't put it into words how hopeless you feel when you're searching," Hayley said.

"And then you find out they were under your nose the whole time in dirty ditch water that whole time. It's heartbreaking."

The inquest heard police knew Alan's last mobile phone activity, at 23:15 to 23:30 GMT, had been around the A4110.

However, a Police Search Adviser (PolSA) decided not to search the floodwater on safety grounds and there was no PolSA on duty the following day to review that decision.

When the road was deemed safe enough for officers to search, Alan's body was found within 20 minutes.

Hayley said: "And that's what makes me so angry because that's the bit that could have been avoided."

She said the PolSA told the inquest the location information from Alan's phone "might not be that accurate".

"It just felt like one excuse after another," she said.

In a prevention of future deaths report James Bennett, coroner for Herefordshire, said the ability for police forces to provide round-the-clock specialist search officers was being impeded by a lack of training provision.

"In my opinion unless action is taken to address the above concerns then there is a significant risk of future deaths," he added.

Supt Stuart Bill, from West Mercia Police, said the force's thoughts were with Alan's family and PolSAs played an "important role" in searches for missing people.

He said there was no requirement for forces to have a dedicated 24/7 PolSA capability, but West Mercia Police was working with the College of Policing to increase the availability of qualified search advisers.

In a response to the coroner's report, the chief executive officer of the College of Policing said it acknowledged "the concerns raised by the coroner and will continue to work with police forces and national policing leads to ensure that capability, resilience and training arrangements remain appropriate to operational demand".

Hayley also criticised the decision not to send officers into the floodwater and other aspects of the search, including what the family said was a lack of appeals for information - pointing to the fact the bike he had been riding was never found.

She has also called for warning signs to be installed on the A4110 - which she described as a "high-risk road" - following her son's death.

Herefordshire Council said it would continue to "review and prioritise highway and drainage improvements across the county based on evidence", adding roads could be affected by flooding during prolonged heavy rainfall.

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