Cub scouts ‘forced to dodge cars’ after getting lost on night-time hike
Furious parents expressed their anger after dozens of ‘unsupervised’ cub scouts got lost and were ‘forced to dodge cars’ on a night-time map-reading exercise.
Up to 30 children, some as young as seven, were found by residents walking along a 40mph road in Worcester in darkness and without adults.
CCTV footage from around 8pm on Monday shows the confused youngsters crossing Crown East Lane a number of times as they try and decide which way to go.
Furious parents have criticised the 10th Worcester Cub group, who had sent the cubs on the map-reading hike.
The children had been told to walk from their scout hut in Lower Broadheath to Elgar’s Birthplace – just under a mile away.
Former police officer Simon Middleweek, 62, noticed the cubs on the road and ran out of his house to help them.
He said: ‘It was horrendous. There was a group of 20 to 30 children attempting to navigate Crown East Lane.
‘The road has no paths or lighting and it was night time. I’m surprised someone wasn’t killed.
‘They were trying to dodge the traffic, in the rain and with no adults with them.
‘I went out and used one of their radios to speak to someone and a few minutes later a girl came running down the road.’
Mr Middleweek, whose CCTV camera recorded the footage, said the children had been let down by the people who should have been looking after them.
He added: ‘The cubs had been given maps and told to make their way to Elgar’s birthplace but they got lost walking across a field and ended up on the road.
‘My understanding is the parents had no idea this was going to take place and thought the cubs would be doing navigation work in a small enclosed paddock next to the scout hut.’
He said a lot of cars on the road fail to stick to the 40mph speed limit, making it particularly dangerous.
Jeremy Wilkinson, whose ten-year-old son was on the hike, said he was ‘extremely angry’ when he found out what happened.
‘We weren’t told they would be on their own,’ he added.
‘We assumed there would have been leaders with each pack. I wanted to have been out there helping them.
‘Some of the children are as young as seven and it’s a very fast road. They’ve made a massive error and there has been no explanation.’
One ‘horrified’ parent said she only found out what had happened when her child returned home from the evening in tears.
Another said he was ‘extremely angry’ and the cub leaders had made a ‘massive error’.
Another parent said: ‘We haven’t received an apology, haven’t been invited to a meeting to discuss what happened and haven’t been told how things will be put right.’
The Cub Scouts defended the exercise, saying the event was ‘risk assessed’.
A spokesperson said: ‘The event had been fully risk assessed and the cubs had access to torches, high visibility jackets and direct radio contact to volunteer leaders who were waiting at the next meeting spot a short distance away.
‘After a misunderstanding with a local resident the young people contacted the leaders and met up with them a short time later.
‘The safety of young people in our care is our number one priority at Scouts and we can confirm parental consent and all risk assessments were in place for the activity ensuring the young people were safe and appropriately equipped throughout the session.’
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