STEPS have been taken to improve the security at Tonedale Mill after a girl was injured falling from the building.

There are now security guards at the Wellington site who are liaising regularly with the police.

A discussion surrounding the site took place at Wellington Town Council this week.

Daniel Bishop, neighbourhood sergeant, said: “Now the children are back at school, we will patrol the mill during afternoons and evenings.

“I am not sure on how often the security are there, but they are visible and so we’re touching base with them when we are down there.

“As a result of the accident we have built up stronger relationships with residents who will contact us if there are any concerns.”

READ MORE: Work notice served on owners of Tonedale Mill

The owners of the building have also been served at section 48 repairs notice. This means the repairs must be completed within a certain time limit – or they will face prosecution.

Wellington Heritage at Risk manager, Dr Joanne O’Hara, said: “There are various stages of building legislation and we were required to seek permission for various stages of our legal process.

“What I can say is that – as a result of that action – we had the confidence to serve the section 48 repairs notice.

“This is a very serious notice that requires the owners to repair the buildings within a set period of time, otherwise the council can trigger more serious legal processes.

“We have taken a really big step and are waiting for the owners now to give us their formal response.”

The demands for more security have increased since a teenager was injured after falling from the mill on August 9.

READ MORE: Accident at Tonedale Mill sparks demands for improvements 

“Security remains responsibility of the site owners, we have been doing everything we can to ask the owners to protect the site from people trying to get in,” Dr O’Hara added.

“We have continued to have ongoing discussions with the owners, and we had drawn the attention of security to owners the Friday before the incident happened.

“Since we served the more serious legal notices in June this year, (the repairs notices on east and west complexes and one Tonedale House), we have been in meaningful discussions with the owners and number of their representatives over the past weeks.

“We don’t know where this is going to go, but we are trying to get them to look after their site, look after their buildings and find out an ongoing meaningful use of the site.”