Time for reflection

It’s an unmistakable tragedy when one of own dies before their time.

That was the fate of Xuan Wei or ‘Cookie’ as her friends knew her.

But it does, without apportioning any blame, bring up one issue.

With the increasing amount of students attending UCLan and the continual push for students to leave cars and ‘go green’ how about a few more cycle lanes?

Make no mistake, this appears to have been a tragic accident and a cycle lane may have made no difference to her fate, but it’s a debate worth having.

Fylde Road is a busy place and there are a lot of students using that stretch of road, yet there’s a lack of provision for cyclists.

We say now, in a period of reflection, is an opportunity for the local authority planners to re-visit cycling provision in the city – especially in student-populated areas.

Can we bank on security?

It amazes us that pretty much the only cash point on the UCLan campus was open to fraudsters.

Not 15 yards from a sign warning of 24-hour surveillance, crooks attached a dummy device to the ATM machine and fleeced at least four students that we know of and probably dozens more – one for at least £1200.

The university says that it doesn’t know about actual losses because the ATM machine belongs to Barclay’s Bank.

Yet, they should have known what was going on.

If ever there was an area on campus with potential for being a security risk, then around the cash machine would appear, even to the untrained eye, to be it.

However, the camera attached to the Harris building cannot see the cash machine, because the canopy at the entrance to Foster building obscures it.

We say please address this as soon as possible, before something really serious happens.