Speeding problem investigated at Horndean

Sally McGrath, Derek Dee and Jo Balston, met in London Road, Horndean – the A3 – to show George Hollingbery MP and Councillor Rob Humby problems they see each day.

Despite well-behaved drivers yesterday afternoon outside the Ship and Bell pub, the residents were still able to raise their concerns.

Jo, 36, of London Road, said: ‘It’s about speeding and the volume of traffic over a really narrow stretch of road here particularly – it’s lethal.

‘We’d like to see some traffic calming of some sort here and possibly Havant Road.’

Mr Hollingbery, the Meon Valley MP, said that Cllr Humby, transport cabinet member at Hampshire County Council, would check whether developers had stuck to agreed plans around the area.

Cllr Humby’s team will look at collecting data about traffic and compare it to any previous data collected.

Residents were keen to see either pinch points installed in the road or gateways put in at the entrance and exit of the village to slow drivers down.

Mr Hollingberry told residents: ‘I’ve got to be realistic.

‘The chance of closing it or narrowing it is tiny.

‘I don’t think anyone wants to close the road.’

Cllr Humby added: ‘We find the pinch points would get a lot of objection after we put them in [elsewhere].

‘We’ve put chicanes in and had to take them out.’

While the total cost of gateways depend on the legal fees the installation costs can be upward from £5,000, he said.

Sally, 57, also of London Road, said the road is just 3ft from her door. ‘It’s very fast and the volume of traffic in a small village, they don’t recognise it’s a village,’ she said. ‘It’s just going too fast for the village.’

Derek 67, who runs DKE Ltd, added: ‘They’re speeding up to 70mph.’