A woman has slammed Thames Valley Police on Twitter after officers failed to help her when she unsafe walking home at night.

Alison Pollard hit out at officers who did not give her a lift to her car down a dark road and continued to drink coffee instead, leaving her feeling “let down” by the force.  

In a thread on Twitter, Ms Pollard described how she missed her bus to Pear Tree Park and Ride after work on May 2.  

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On the way, she spotted four police officers who she hoped would help her get to her car safely.

Ms Pollard described that they were unhelpful and then turned “back to their coffees and carried on chatting while I walked the rest of the way, alone, in tears”.

Ms Pollard wrote: “Feel seriously let down by @thamesvp tonight. Worked late and missed the last bus back to the Pear Tree Park and Ride (bank holiday hours).

“Walked the 40 mins or so down Woodstock Road (not too bad - a main road and street lights most of the way) but was seriously worried about the last bit: crossing the massive roundabout and - even worse as a woman on my own - the walk down the deserted, largely dark road just off the A34 to the near empty park and ride.

“I was bricking it about this bit all the way back. It was about 9.30pm.

“But - hooray I thought! - there were four male police officers having a break and a coffee at the BP station.

“Honestly - the relief. I approached them, told them I missed the bus and was worried about getting to my car, sort of with the hope they’d help me get there safely in some way.

“Their response? There’s a footpath all the way down and you can get to the Park and Ride by going over the crossing at the bottom.

Oxford Mail: Pear Tree Park & Ride Pear Tree Park & Ride

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“Then turned back to their coffees and carried on chatting while I walked the rest of the way, alone, in tears. Admittedly that last deserted bit of the walk only took 10 minutes but it would have only taken them the same amount of time to make sure that I was safe.

“I thought that the police were more in tune with women’s safety now, but it seems not.”

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “A formal complaint has been made in relation to this so it would be inappropriate for us to comment publicly on this matter.”

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