East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) spokesman, Gary Sanderson, confirmed that 11 people from Essex County Council’s offices in The Crescent, Colchester were treated by ambulance crew after experiencing sudden illnesses at 10.40am today and all staff were evacuated from the building by 11:30. He added:
“All 11 casualties, all adults, presented with nausea, headaches and dizziness after becoming unwell today. At present the 11 patients are being assessed by a doctor who is at the scene. No one has been conveyed to hospital.”
Those affected complained of sickness and a strange mouth taste. The incident comes just ten days after a similar incident last week, for which the fire service and the county council’s facilities team were unable to find a cause and declared the building safe, meaning workers returned to work as normal last Monday.
A council spokesman said:
“Employees returned to the site as usual last Monday after the emergency services declared the building safe over the weekend.
“As well as the emergency services, the building was also thoroughly checked by county council facility management teams before being given a clean bill of health, with facility management representatives remaining on site on Monday.
“We recognise this is the second incident that has occurred at Essex House in the last month and would like to reiterate that the health and safety of our staff is paramount at all times.”
