William Albert Nairn Lardner · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On the 5th July 2023 I commenced an investigation into the death of William Albert Nairn Lardner, aged 16 years. The investigation has not yet concluded, and the Inquest has not yet been heard.

On the evening of the 30th June 2023, William, known as Billy, had been working at one of the concessions at Bournemouth Airport. He finished work at approximately 9.30pm and walked from the airport main building, down Hurn Court Lane, the road upon which the airport is situated, towards the traffic lights on Parley Lane, Christchurch the main road outside the airport. Billy’s brother had arranged to collect Billy from work that evening. At approximately 9.34pm Billy was crossing Parley Lane at the traffic lights, at the junction with Hurn Court Lane, towards his brother’s car which had stopped at the lights when he was struck by a vehicle which had gone through a red light at speed. He sustained significant, traumatic injuries which led to his death.

(1) Bournemouth International Airport is a busy passenger airport with daily flights operating from the airport. A recent article on the airport’s website on the 25th November 2024 marked their one millionth passenger for 2024. This article reports a rise in passenger numbers and plans for anticipated future growth with a series of new routes.

(2) Passengers using Bournemouth Airport can access the airport by car, whether that is a private vehicle or a taxi. There is airport parking available for 2250 passengers and 213 staff. There is a drop off area. The minimum charge to access the airport drop off zone is £5 for 30 minutes, which is said to be standard airport industry practice.

(3) There is limited access to the airport by public transport. There is no access by train and there is one bus service from central Bournemouth to the airport. This bus service only operates Monday to Friday with a total of 5 journeys a day: 2 inbound journeys which are from Westover Road, Bournemouth to the Airport, one between 05.50 and 06.31 hours and then the other between 06.35 to 07.22 hours and 3 outbound journeys from Bournemouth Airport to Westover Road, Bournemouth between 13.53 to 14.25 hours, 16.20 and 17.20 hours and 18.00 to 18.49 hours. This service focuses on providing a service for staff working at the neighbouring Aviation Business Park, however, does also serve the main passenger terminal. Previously, the airport was served by an hourly bus service, however this was stopped.

(4) Many people access the airport on foot, either being dropped off and/or picked up on Parley Lane where there is no layby or drop off zone or by using nearby car parks and walking on foot to the airport. One such car park is at the Adventure Wonderland site and is known as Parley Lane Parking (Parley Lane Parking | Bournemouth Airport Parking). This is 0.9 miles from the airport, on the opposite side of Parley Lane which offers cheaper rates than Bournemouth Airport to park. There is no pathway on the side of the road at Parley Lane Parking and no crossing facility, so people will either walk along the road or have to cross the road to access the footpath. Please see attached photograph at JGL/5.

(5) Parley Lane is a busy single carriageway semi-rural road with a national speed limit and BCP Council has responsibility for the road as the local highway authority. Hurn Court Lane is owned by the airport who therefore have responsibility for it. There is no public footpath along Hurn Court Lane after turning off Parley Lane to access the airport. Please see attached photograph at JGL/4. This results in pedestrians walking in the road or on the grass section next to the road on Hurn Court Lane to get to the airport terminal. This is dangerous as it is not a stable, safe public pathway and could lead to people falling into the road or being struck by vehicles, especially as people pull suitcases along. The airport has erected signs stating these is no pedestrian access, however, these are widely ignored.

(6) A site visit and assessment in July 2023 by Dorset Police Road Casualty Reduction Officer and the Senior BCP Council Safety Officer following Billy’s death highlighted some fundamental safety issues. At this time no action has been taken around these safety issues, although matters have been discussed. Accordingly, the safety issues remain the same 17 months on from the site assessment, with a likely increasing number of passengers using the airport going forward.

(7) I, therefore, have concerns that there could be future deaths given the manner in which users are accessing the airport and the lack of public transport and pedestrian access available.