Calls for gates to stop drivers using flood-prone road

Gates should be installed on a "dangerous" road to block drivers during flooding to stop them from being seriously hurt, a councillor says.

Drivers often ignore or do not see the road closure sign that is put up during floods on Sandhurst Lane in Longford, said councillor Sarah Hands, from Tewkesbury Borough Council.

She is calling on Gloucestershire County Council to install a gate at each end of the lane that can be closed when needed.

However, a county council spokesperson said the sign was the "most effective" solution.

Drivers regularly become stranded on the road, said Ms Hands, and two vehicles have had to be rescued in the past month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Ms Hands said the gates were a "common sense" solution.

"It seems it will only be a matter of time before somebody is seriously hurt, or worse," she said.

Ms Hands added: "Currently there is a single fixed highway sign which is opened during flooding. The sign is in a poor state and is regularly vandalised.

"Cones placed by Highways [the council] to close the road are regularly moved by the public.

"A physical barrier is the only way to stop drivers proceeding down this dangerous route."

Tewkesbury MP Cameron Thomas is calling on the county council to visit the site.

He also warned that some abandoned vehicles had been looted.

"A barrier system seems to be a simple and cost-effective measure which would release pressure on rescue services and on our police," Mr Thomas said.

A spokesperson for the county council said closing the road during floods would block emergency access.

"Putting a gate across a public highway has wider implications and also prevents access by emergency services," a spokesperson said.

"We are confident that the traffic management measures currently in place make it clear that residents should not be using the lane when there is flooding.

"We are happy to support any work that the councillor is doing with her local community and the police, to communicate the concerns and reinforce the closures that highways put in place."

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