St Leonards road ‘becoming very dangerous’ outside primary school

Keith Mercer said he has been regularly reporting potholes and other issues outside ARK Little Ridge Community Primary school.

He said he has been calling on East Sussex County Council to fix the road, with support from other members of the Little Ridge Community Group – set up by residents who say they are working hard to make the area a better place to live.

Mr Mercer said: “Little Ridge Avenue is in a very bad state of repair, in two key areas which I have contacted the Highways Steward about on many occasions.

“The road surface in the older part of the road is becoming dangerous, as people are swerving to avoid the rough areas and I constantly monitor this to try and keep the potholes reported as they appear. Apparently the Highways Steward does this regularly.

“The other area is the speed hump zone outside the school, which again I regularly monitor. We were promised last year, that the area would be sorted out and new humps would be put in place, but this never happened.”

Mr Mercer said the condition of the speed humps has got so bad that screws have become dislodged and the top of the humps are now crumbling.

He also said a section of the pavement area regularly floods during heavy or persistent rain, causing school children to either cross over a busy road, or walk in the road, on the muddy verge, or in the undergrowth at the side.

A spokesman for East Sussex Highways said improvement works in the road are due to take place in the summer.

He added: “We are aware of concerns about the condition of the road in Little Ridge Avenue.

“This road is in our programme for improvement works during the summer and in the meantime we are monitoring the road and will carry out any emergency repairs that meet our criteria.”

Mr Mercer said he was made aware of the plans for the summer works last year.

He said a petition was set up to get a zebra crossing included in these works, but an officer at the county council ‘made a recommendation not to proceed’ at a meeting in January.