Safety advice is given out to Bognor Regis shoppers

The advice on how to avoid becoming a statistic was available along the London Road precinct from the emergency services.

But there was also fun to be had with recipes from five countries, music supplied by Rox, face painting, Santa’s grotto and a children’s roundabout.

Inspector Stewart Goodwin, of Sussex Police’s roads policing unit, said: “We are here to talk about all aspects of road safety. It could be someone who has just passed their motorcycle test to a driver wanting to know about driving in the middle lane of a motorway.”

All aspects of wheeled transport were covered in the display by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership from motor bikes to mobility scooters.

“This is a good opportunity to have for people to talk to us,” said Insp Goodwin. “Most people only come across us when they are victims of crime, or more probably, have committed a crime.”

Steve Sullivan, the Watch Commander of red watch at Bognor fire station, was among the fire crew present with their fire tender’s wreckage cutting equipment on show.

“We want people to see what we will be using if they are in an accident,” he said. “If you drink drive, you are going to end up in an accident.

Safety inside the home was one of the themes of the stand of Victim Support West Sussex at last Saturday’s popular event.

Volunteer Frank Gray said: “We want people to know we are here. We can make quite a difference to them if they are a victim of any crime from burglary to homicide.

“We can give them alarms for doors and windows and help if they want to move.

“A crime completely removes a person’s self-confidence. A lot of people feel their reactions are odd because they’ve never been there before.

“We can encourage them that their reactions are reasonable and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Home safety checks were also available from West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.