HASLEMERE Haslemere Town Council has joined forces with Thursley and Churt parishes to press Highways England to improve traffic management and avoid village “blockages” when the A3 Hindhead Tunnel is closed.

Surrey County Council’s Waverley Local Committee has also taken up the cudgels on behalf of residents protesting traffic chaos is caused by diversions due to closures – regardless of whether they are caused by an accident, or routine maintenances.

Highways England’s operations and maintenance team gave a presentation to the committee last September about the closures management process, but came under fire from councillors for not providing more “concrete” facts.

The agency said it was trying to minimise the need for closures due to routine works and technology issues, and recognised the need to improve how it holds up and turns around traffic during an emergency closure.

Haslemere mayor Malcolm Carter said in a joint statement for the three parishes: “We have been concerned for some time that in the event of an emergency closure of the tunnel, traffic is not managed or directed sufficiently.

“It is left to find its own way from the blockages until such time as the police and Highways England have the situation under control, which can often be a considerable time.

“This has often left local villages being blighted by traffic and, in particular, HGVs using inappropriate roads.

“We have said the emergency signage on the A3 both north and south is totally inadequate, while we are also concerned about the ability of Highways England to manage A3 traffic during these closures.”

He said a meeting with chief operating officer Nick Harris in late December was ‘‘constructive’, and led to an agreement to review a number of points.

They included sufficient signage at Guildford (A31) and Bordon (A325), for diversion notices that are understood by all road users, and for an early response by Highways England staff at the tunnel.

A second meeting will take place in February when a ‘desktop closure study’ exercise will be conducted to ensure all parties understand the diversion roads to be used and where the hazards are for ‘straying vehicles’.

A Highways England spokesman said: “We already have detailed plans for dealing with both planned and unplanned closures at the tunnel, but we keep them continually under review and we are keen to improve them.

“We want to help encourage drivers to use the signed diversion, on the A31 and A325 between Guildford and Longmoor, rather than stay on the A3 and then clog local roads when they reach the closure.

“We will be meeting with our partners to discuss this soon.”

•A CRASH on the southbound carriageway of the A3 led to the closure of the Hindhead tunnel on Monday morning.

Police said the collision, involving two cars, took place at around 6.50am, on January 15.

The occupants suffered only minor injuries. The tunnel was closed briefly to avoid a build-up of traffic queuing in the tunnel and to allow the police to clear the incident.

Highways England confirmed no diversion was required.