Children are having their lives "put at risk" due to gas works happening outside a Raynes Park school.
Sandra Malveiro's child attends St John Fisher Primary School and says drivers are causing havoc in Grand Drive ever since the works by SGN began.
Special mention to one of those people who are turning right out of Cannon Hill Lane no matter what the obstacle they face. I'm not sure if @Merton_Council or @SGNgas are awarding extra point for this... pic.twitter.com/xiw4lBZxSb
— Inner Harmony Choir (@TheIHChoir) September 7, 2018
"In their infinite wisdom they have placed the works on a road outside a primary school," she said.
"Our children are walking across the road when the green man is on and cars are manoeuvring past them."
Video also captured the mayhem, with cars attempting to turn into oncoming traffic and also trying to drive through red lights.
Mrs Malveiro said a police presence calmed things down one day, but without them on site things quickly became a "blockade" again.
Dan Brown, spokesman for gas distribution company SGN said new safety measures have since been installed to make the junction safer.
"We’re continuing to carry out gas network upgrades in the Grand Drive area," he said.
Thank you to @MPSMerton for policing this this afternoon. Amazingly everyone seems to be turning right without instruction like they knew it was illegal. Sadly and predictably though the police taking stick for doing their job and keeping people safe. pic.twitter.com/zzDix1dnr8
— Inner Harmony Choir (@TheIHChoir) September 6, 2018
"To ensure the safety of the public and our engineers around our site, Grand Drive is closed to northbound traffic from the junction of Cannon Hill Lane for the duration of our work.
"Northbound motorists should follow our signed diversion route via Cannon Hill Lane.
"Our work and traffic management is planned in consultation with the local authorities. After further consultation and to maintain everyone’s safety, we’ve introduced additional signage to remind motorists of the road closure and we’ve also installed temporary three-way traffic lights to manage traffic flow from Monday, September 10.
Merton Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, environment and housing, Councillor Martin Whelton echoed those sentiments, saying they are working closely with SGN and police to ensure the area is safe to travel through.
"We will continue to monitor these road works on a daily basis and in conjunction with the Police and Merton Council, SGN have installed temporary traffic lights that will be manually controlled by a Traffic Marshall between 7am and 7pm.
"The police and Safer Neighbourhood Team will continue to monitor the vehicles that are dangerously driving and not adhering to the directional closure in place.”
Police have said that anyone caught ignoring the no entry signs will be reported to the traffic division, with a possible outcome of three points on their driving licence and a £100 fine for driving without due care.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel