Grandmother visited by POLICE after she joked about 'shooting' noisy rail workers
A DISABLED grandmother was visited by police after they overheard her jokingly say she was going to "shoot" railway workers who kept her awake.
It totally ruined my Christmas
Ann Egan, from Rainham, Kent, shouted the comment in the background as her partner, Dave Bumstead, phoned Network Rail to complain about the unannounced work taking place on a line behind their home.
Engineers arrived without warning at 10pm on Christmas Eve and worked through until 8am - and did the same thing again on Christmas Day.
On Boxing Day, Mr Bumstead called Network Rail to complain and ask if they were due back again that night.
As he spoke his partner joked in the background: "If they come back again I'll shoot them with a gun".
Two hours later she answered her door in Rainham, Kent to find two British Transport Police officers who said they had been sent to investigate a threat to railway staff.
Ms Egan, who suffers from a lung condition and relies on an oxygen mask, said the uniformed pair entered her house and spent 15 minutes talking to her.
They quickly realised she posed no risk and would not be opening fire on the engineers and left with an apology for bothering her and Mr Bumstead, also 57.
Ms Egan said: "Obviously I was joking. It was totally tongue in cheek and I think anybody with a bit of common sense would realise that.
"I could hear the woman from customer services getting really snotty on the phone and after two sleepless nights it really wound me up.
"There were two officers on my doorstep and they took one look at me and knew it was ridiculous.
"They were chuckling about it. They thought it was ridiculous too but they have to come and check it out.
"I think they just took one look at me and realised it was said in frustration. I was shattered.
"I can't even run down the garden let alone climb a wall and gun down some rail workers.
"Network Rail have totally wasted police time. It was a waste of my time and a waste of their time."
She added: "When you've got about twelve men shouting at the top of their voices and a disc cutter going all night and flood lights beaming into your window it is annoying.
"I went to bed at midnight on Christmas Eve after getting everything ready for the next day.
"I did not sleep for two nights and we had no letter or warning that the work would take place, no one in the street did.
"It totally ruined my Christmas. I was shattered for the entire time."
Network Rail apologised for not informing residents about the work in advance but did not wish to comment on the report to the British Transport Police.
A spokesman said: "Clearly our neighbour in Rainham should have received advanced warning of the work over Christmas and I can only apologise.
"We are investigating how this came to happen and we know how important it is to let people know when we will be doing work overnight.
"Christmas is the busiest time of year for our engineers as it is the only time when we can get access to the busiest parts of the railway without impacting passengers."
A British Transport Police spokesman said: "Officers had cause to visit an address in Rainham on Boxing Day, after a threat of violence with a gun towards rail workers was overheard.
"We take all abuse and threats of violence against rail staff very seriously and will investigate as appropriate.
"In this case, we were satisfied the threat was made out of frustration, with no actual malice intended. There was no gun.
"However, rail staff have the right to carry out their work without fear of intimidation."
