A new father has told of his fears that a baby could have been snatched from Colchester General Hospital after a security lapse.

Warning - Adrian Crowther, with wife Emma and new baby Riley, has told how the door code for the central delivery suite was given out. Picture: ROB SAMBROOK (40041-1)

Now security guard Adrian Crowther has called for a safety review at the hospital. He said he was shocked at how easy it was to access the building.

Mr Crowther, 22, whose son, Riley, was born at the hospital's central delivery suite, is a mobile security officer for Marks and Spencer.

H was given a security code by a member of staff who was fed up with letting them in and out of the building.

A hospital spokesman said: "A member of the public reported to a porter supervisor that a doctor had given the keypad security number to the central delivery suite (CDS) at Colchester General Hospital to a close relative of a woman who had just given birth.

"The number was immediately changed and Trust security staff spoke to the sister in charge of the CDS and the duty matron at the time, so that they could reiterate the importance of security to all staff whose work takes them into that area.

"The Trust is in the process of trying to identify the doctor involved so that the sacrosanct importance of security can be emphasised."

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Published Tuesday, December 14, 2004

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