PEOPLE living in Durford Road fear someone will be killed unless traffic-calming measures are introduced. Worried residents say the mandatory 30 miles per hour speed limit on the road is regularly flouted – with drivers belting along at twice that speed. Now, concerned folk are grouping together in a battle to curb speedy drivers. Steve Amos, who has a three-year-old daughter, told Petersfield Town Council he was campaigning for extra speed restriction signage, adding: "I think it's a real problem and so do a number of residents. "During the evening between 7pm and 9pm when people are late for their gym classes, you'd think It was a race track. "The surface is dreadful and it's only a matter of time before somebody is killed." Mr Amos has joined forces with Mike Hibbert, who lives on the corner of Durford Road and Clare Gardens, to form a "vigilante group". Mr Hibbert recently placed 30mph signs on every telegraph pole down the street – only to see them torn down the following day by council officers. "My son and I put the signs up, as well as one on an oak tree outside the post office. That is private so it can't be taken down," he said. "What we are doing is telling people to slow down, waving hands," he continued. "We get the fingers and other hand gestures and we have to follow people down to Penns Place and confront them. They never seem to understand why they have been stopped. "We're not trying to stop people using the Taro Leisure Centre, it's just the way they use Durford Road. It's a long and straight road like a race track." Mr Hibbert continued: "We've been told that proper 30mph repeat signs are not allowed to be put in under street lights. yet there's not one sign that tells you it's a 30mph zone. "When you go around the corner to the district council you have 20mph signs and speed bumps. But that's a bit late as they've just passed my house round the corner doing 50mph. "The police said they couldn't do anything unless there's a fatality. I just hope that's not one of my children," he said. "But we won't give up until something is done," he concluded. Fellow Durford Road resident Darren Stone added: "It's awful. We have council workers who hammer down the road and then the people who use the sports centre. "And then at weekends it changes from a racetrack into a car park because of all the sports events. "We've had numerous crashes down here, but although we haven't had anyone knocked down, I can't see it being a long time before that happens." Tanya Chainey, who recently moved to Durford Road and started a petition for speed restriction road signs, added: "I'm new to the area, and didn't realise when I bought my house how busy the road is. Three cats were killed in one day recently, which made me a little annoyed." Meanwhile Jo Patel, of Clare Garden Stores in Durford Road, said: "Often you get cars coming down at about 60mph. We are really concerned about it in case somebody gets killed. Somebody is going to die unless they put up a speed camera or a sign." A statement from the county council said: "It is prohibited to put up repeater signs for a 30mph limit. This criteria is set by the Department of Transport and we have to adhere to it."
