A FORMER pumping station has been branded “an accident waiting to happen” as broken fences mean it is left unsecure.

Tendring Council is trying to acquire the building, off Barrack Lane, in an effort to open up the historic Beacon Hill Fort to the public.

But members of Harwich Town Council are concerned the old pumping station has been left unsecured.

David Flavell said: “People can walk straight in there–there is a 20ft drop into a pit.”

A Tendring Council spokesman confirmed it had visited the site on Thursday and the owner had been asked to take action.

Read the full story in this week’s Standard, out now.