Call for action over danger road

A call for action has gone out over a danger road where there has been a string of accidents and near misses.

Concern is growing following an increase in the number of lorries using the A283 between Pulborough and Storrington, branded ‘unacceptable’ by residents.

One woman - Anne Cooper who lives in nearby Stopham - said: “Something has to change on the A283 in Pulborough before someone is killed.”

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Her call for action came after she witnessed a near-miss while on her way to work. “As I queued at the Swan Corner roundabout heading east towards Storrington, a huge cab with a trailer - it looked like a 38-tonner - came across the two mini-roundabouts.

“To avoid being hit by the vehicle, the car in front of me had no choice but to violently mount the pavement nearly wiping our an unassuming pedestrian - the look of fear on her face was quite disturbing as she jumped back, clearly in shock.”

She said she on another occasion she was in Pulborough High Street “when a colleague pulled me back when I was just about to be wacked on the head by a wing mirror.”

She said she had seen a number of wing mirrors knocked off vehicles at the Swan Corner roundabout. “With the road being so narrow, it’s virtually impossible to share the roundabout with HGVs, but sometimes you are forced into the situation.”

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She added: “The number of HGVs passing through the village is steadily increasing and really isn’t acceptable in a small village such as Pulborough.”

Last year a lorry went into a shop further along the A283 at Storrington and another one got stuck on a mini roundabout there.

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council, which is responsible for roads, said: “Pulborough is an advisory route for lorries on local journeys (i.e routes used for the starting or final leg of longer distance lorry trips or for travelling between built-up areas in West Sussex).

“There are difficulties at this location. This has been made worse in recent years because the size of lorries themselves have become bigger.

“We rely on lorry drivers to drive with care when journeying through our towns. Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this problem.”