Residents fear fatalities at Biggin Hill blackspot

A CHRONICLE investigation into speeding on a road dubbed an accident blackspot has revealed that 77 per cent of drivers flout the law.

Campaigners in Westerham Hill and Main Road (the A233) in Biggin Hill, teamed up to monitor traffic travelling south during a random check on Monday, using a speed gun. Of the 72 vehicles passing through the 30mph zone, the average speed was 36mph and the highest was 58mph.

A bus marked with Bromley Council logos was also registered travelling at seven miles per hour above the limit.

Residents fear possible fatalities and said it was a "scandal" that their pleas for speed-limit signs were falling on deaf ears.

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Neighbours have already suffered from speeding vehicles smashing into their parked cars, including one being written off by a van in June last year.

In November, a lorry was forced off the road and careered across several gardens.

However, Bromley Council said the number of accidents meant Main Road was considered low priority for speed camera or speed awareness signs.

Ms Moore wrote to the council along with neighbour Yola Foister in July last year to ask for "reminder signs" – smaller than those used for a change in speed limit – to be placed along the road.

It was not until January that temporary signs appeared.

Ms Moore said: "They wrote back to me to say they only ever put them up as a temporary measure because people start to ignore them after a short time. How incredibly ridiculous is that?

"The speed actually decreased by an awful lot while they were up but now it's as bad as it ever was.

"It's rubbish to say people ignore them, they just don't know what the limit is."

She added that with public footpaths, bridle paths, a pub on one side of the road and an equestrian shop and farm shop on the other, it was dangerous for residents.

Trevor Scott, of Main Road, said he had been trying "for years and years" to make the road safer.

He said: "I take the dog for a walk in the morning and something that simple can be very difficult as they go at such a tremendous speed it's hard to cross.

"A few years ago, the council even wrote to us asking if we wanted to raise the limit to 40mph.

"The response was a unanimous 'no thank you'."

Charlotte Green, road safety project manager at Bromley Council, said the signs placed on Main Road were temporary road safety posters.

She added they were taken down because research showed that after three months they were less effective. The council will continue to monitor the road.