Speeding signs obscured by branches to be removed

Two vehicle-activated speeding signs in Cottimore Lane, Walton-on-Thames are to be removed

A pair of vehicle-activated speeding signs in a road in Surrey are to be removed as the sensors are obscured by tree branches.

The flashing signs were recently installed in Cottimore Lane, Walton-on-Thames, after campaigners described the road as “like a race track”.

Luke Storey, of the Cottimore Lane Road Safety Campaign Group, said: “We all love a game of hide and seek, but not when it comes to road safety. It’s deplorable.”

Surrey Council County acknowledged the signs were installed in the incorrect locations and pledged to consult the group on alternative sites.

Last year, the campaign group launched a petition calling for speed deterrents along the road, which has about 200 homes.

Two vehicle-activated signs were subsequently installed – one partially blocked by a bush and the other obscured by a tree.

Two vehicle-activated speeding signs in Cottimore Lane, Walton-on-Thames are to be removed

Mr Storey said the signs were “absolutely useless”.

“Two vehicle-activated signs is pretty much the very least the council could have done. So to then have this just beggars belief,” he told BBC Radio Surrey.

“Surely whoever was putting the signs up, screwing them into a lamppost in a bush, would have thought to flag at the time that it wasn’t an appropriate place for a flashing sign?”

The council said officers had completed a site visit to access alternative locations and a meeting was to be held with the campaign group later this month.

“The signs will be removed in the coming days,” a spokesman said.

“The new locations will need to take into account the need to ensure the signs are not causing a nuisance by illuminating directly into residents' properties, while also being visible to oncoming drivers in the locations where speeding is of greatest concern.”

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