Woman arrested for pouring petrol on Manawatu council worker

A woman allegedly poured petrol on a staff member at Manawatu District Council, armed with a lighter. Photo / Greg Bowker

A woman has been arrested after petrol was poured on a Manawatu District Council staff member earlier today.

Feilding police Detective Felicity Cato said they were called to the incident in Feilding shortly after 8.30am after receiving reports that an agitated woman armed with a can of petrol and a lighter had poured the petrol onto the council reception counter and onto a staff member, before pouring more petrol throughout other parts of the building.

The woman believed to be responsible was arrested shortly after and the building was evacuated, Ms Cato said.She is likely to appear in court later today facing a variety of charges.

Ms Cato said thankfully no-one had been injured in the incident, and the staff member soaked with petrol had been left shaken but was otherwise unharmed.Staff were now receiving appropriate support, Ms Cato said.

As a result of the incident, the council building would be closed for the rest of the day while the Fire Service ventilated and decontaminated the building.

Part of the road next to the council building on the corner of Grey and Manchester Sts had also been cordoned off.Ms Cato said it was unlikely the council building would reopen tomorrow and members of the public were asked to remain patient.

The Public Service Association (PSA) released a statement following the petrol attack saying the lessons learned from the Ashburton Winz killings must be applied wider than the core public service.

PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff described the Manawatu Council attack as "utterly reprehensible".

He said frontline staff in local government and district health boards faced the same risks as those in the core public service, and the lessons learned from the review into the safety of Ministry of Social Development staff must be implemented more widely.

"It is completely unacceptable that people are having to deal with events such as this in their working lives."

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