St Leonards residents call for action over ‘dangerous driving’ in their street

People in Springfield Road said the area has suffered from dangerous driving and speeding ‘for years’.

Alice Butler set up Springfield Road Traffic Action Group earlier this year to campaign for action to be taken.

She said: “Speeding and dangerous driving has been a problem for years on the street, intensified hugely by the opening of the new Bexhill by-pass.

“But it was in April when our family cat was killed, two days after a neighbour’s cat was killed, and then followed by another cat the next week, that made me finally take a stand.

“We have contacted the council and the relevant authorities and have been told basically that ‘a person needs to die’ before they will do anything about it.

“We have made our own signs and posters and stuck them up on the street to appeal to drivers.

“We would like to show the authorities that we are serious about this and that something needs to be done to calm the traffic.

“In the past two weeks alone a fox cub has been killed, the traffic island has been smashed down and a dog has been hit and had to have life-saving surgery. It is literally a matter of time until a person is killed.

“The street is a thoroughfare for many school kids, there are shops and amenities nearby, and it’s used by many pedestrians. Our neighbourhood group is really united on this.

“Dangerous driving is a huge problem across the whole town with some terrible accidents recently. We hope we can start the ball rolling in making Hastings a safer place to live.”

An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: “Speeding and dangerous driving are criminal offences and should be reported to Sussex Police.

“While road safety is very important to us, with more than 2,000 miles of road in the county it is vital that we follow the evidence and base any decisions on safety records and data. We take into account a number of factors when looking at areas that could benefit from road safety schemes, and Springfield Road does not currently meet our criteria for road safety measures.

“We have a limited budget for road safety measures, but we are always happy to discuss concerns with residents and assess whether further measures are appropriate.”