Man who suffered homophobic abuse after seeing Barbie wants Bridgnorth's broken street lights fixed

A Bridgnorth man who was subjected to homophobic abuse following a night at the cinema said he does not feel safe at night due to the town's poor street lighting.

Huw Rees said he was abused for being gay while walking home from the cinema in Bridgnorth

Huw Rees, who has lived in the market town all his life, went to the Majestic cinema in Whitburn Street on Saturday night to watch the newly-released Barbie with some friends and had dressed in pink for the occasion.

The 24-year-old content writer said: "As has become part of the custom of seeing the film, I was dressed fully in pink. Unfortunately, as I left the cinema and walked through town in the dark, I was verbally assaulted four separate times with homophobic slurs aimed at me by pub-goers, both men and women.

"I also had a pint glass thrown in my direction, which thankfully missed but smashed in front of me on the pavement."

He said as a gay man growing up in Bridgnorth, this wasn't the first time he had received homophobic abuse. He added that he doesn't feel safe going out alone at night due to the lack of street lighting.

The dark streets that Huw had to go down on his walk home from the cinema

He said: "Obviously, I was dressed fully in pink but Bridgnorth is not a diverse place. This sort of thing does happen occasionally.

"It is uncomfortable and when it is groups of younger lads it can be threatening, especially on Friday and Saturday night, and it stops me going out by myself."

One of 40 broken street lights in Bridgnorth that Huw has counted

He added that he has counted 40 street lights that were out or broken in the town, which he says can make it "terrifying" to walk alone at night.

"I noticed many of the street lights in the town centre are out, which create areas that are almost fully unlit. As a young gay man, it can be terrifying to walk through unlit areas at night by myself, especially on a Friday or Saturday.

"If the council fixed the street lights, I don't know if it will stop the problem, but it would help me feel more confident to go out. I shouldn't have to feel scared to go out alone."

A spokesman for Shropshire Council said: "Shropshire Council and our contractors are aware that a number of street lights require maintenance.

“We fully understand that delays to lighting repairs are frustrating and we can reassure people that we are doing all we can to ensure as many lights as possible are working.

“Meanwhile we’ll be converting a further 5,500 street lights to LED lighting in the next six months. These new LED lanterns will help to speed up the repair process and result in fewer faulty or failed lights in future.”

He added that faulty street lights can be reported to Shropshire Council using the Fix My Street app, or via the council website, at improvingyourroads.shropshire.gov.uk