Pedestrian crossing petition submitted to county council

Battle District councillors Kathryn Field and Kevin Dixon launched the campaign after a 12-year-old Claverham pupil was injured in a collision on the A2100 Battle Hill, in March, and a cyclist died following a collision on the same road, in August 2016.

Mrs Field said: “We have been delighted by the response from across the whole community and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the individuals, business, schools and churches that have helped.

“More than 2,300 have signed the petition and we have received an extremely positive response. Many householders on Battle Hill have told us alarming stories of their own minor incidents or near misses.”

One of those residents was Vicki Cooke who said: “I have lived in South Battle since well before the Tesco Express shop was opened and like a lot of my neighbours would welcome the opportunity to leave our cars behind and walk across to Tesco.

“The problem is that without a crossing you literally have to take your life in your hands to cross the road and it’s just not worth the risk.”

Mrs Field’s petition had been placed into a number of the commercial premises around the town and received backing from schools in the area.

This week, the petition was handed to the chairman of East Sussex County Council Michael Ensor, and will be passed on to the highways department for assessment.

Mrs Field added: “Obviously we hope that the strength of feeling from across the whole town will help to ensure we get our crossing.”

Mr Dixon said it was ‘absolutely clear’ a crossing was needed before anyone else is killed or injured on Battle Hill.