VOTE: Are 30mph speed limit '˜reminders' needed on Lower Bognor Road?

Speed limit signs along an Aldwick road have been demanded by residents.

The homeowners whose properties back on to Lower Bognor Road want the 30mph reminders placed along its stretch between Aldwick Road and Chalcraft Lane. Several of the round red, white and black signs are on the roads nearby – but none have been placed along that 500m length of road by West Sussex County Council.

Christchurch Crescent resident Colin Linegar, 68, said the council should act to correct the situation.

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“There should be a couple of the signs along this road. It’s very dangerous along here. There are children who cross this road and people walk their dogs along here.

“The traffic is going along at 60-70mph, I would say. It’s all day long, especially in the summer. I’ve been here two-and-a-half years and the situation has got worse.

“One of my neighbours says his bungalow shakes when the big lorries – 40-tonners – go past.

“The county council say the signs are not necessary because of the distance between the lamp-posts. But the motorists don’t realise that when they are driving along.”

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MP Nick Gibb joined the residents at a protest along the road last Saturday and he called on the county council to meet their demands.

“All it would take is a couple of 30mph signs attached to the lamp-posts. It’s not expensive and it’s not hard to do. But the motorists do need a reminder of the speed limit.

“The road does look like a country lane, but it is a residential road and the signs will show that.

“I’m sure they would work. People are not going to miss them,” said Mr Gibb, the MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.

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The speed of the traffic was obvious during the protest. Motorists noticeably slowed down when police community support officer Bill Prior was present and put out police anti-speeding signs.

A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: “All signs that can be erected on the public highway must conform to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.

“This is a statutory instrument specifying the size and shape of all traffic signs and roadmarkings, and contains legislation relating to the positioning of some specific signs.

“Direction 11(4)(a) of the directions prohibits the use of 30mph repeater signs on roads where there is a system of street lighting in place.

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“The street lights are intended to signify the area is subject to a 30mph speed limit, and drivers are required to observe that speed unless other signs indicate it is not a 30 zone.

“On that basis, regardless of any amount of campaigning, the highway authority are not permitted to erect repeater signs in this circumstance. Enforcement of the speed limit is a police matter.”