CHIDDINGFOLD residents are shocked by the death of a local father of three young children, who was killed in an horrific road accident on Monday night.

Darren Knott (32) from Hambledon died in an accident outside the Winterton Arms public house on the A283 Petworth Road.

The incident happened at 7-30 pm when the maroon Vauxhall Cavalier he was driving was in collision with a blue Ford Ranger pick-up truck.

The accident is believed to have occurred as Mr Knott was turning right out of the pub on to the Petworth Road.

Mr Knott, who was a regular at the village pub, was well-known in the village and members of his family have lived in Chiddingfold for many years.

Police, firefighters from Haslemere and Dunsfold, and several ambulances were called to the scene. The Surrey police helicopter was also used.

Mr Knott was freed from the car by the fire brigade and taken to the Royal Surrey Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9.05 pm.

The driver of the Ford, a 26-year-old man from Petworth, who suffered minor injuries, was also taken to hospital.

An inquest into the death of Mr Knott was opened at Woking on Wednesday morning and adjourned.

A section of the A283 was closed for nearly four hours between the Hambledon road junction and beyond the pub and local diversions were set up.

Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident or for anyone who has any information to contact them.

The accident, close to the brow of the hill which leads into the village, has brought renewed calls from nearby residents for more traffic-calming measures on the main road through Chiddingfold, the scene of a number of serious accidents in recent years.

Allan Tanner and his wife Angela, who have lived almost opposite the pub for 20 years, called for police cameras to be installed.

"I used to cycle to Guildford and the most dangerous part of the ride was through Chiddingfold to Hambledon," Mr Tanner told The Herald.

Ray Ball (82) a butcher in the village for 50 years, who is now retired, spends some of his day observing traffic through the village from outside his home on the main road.

He believed that speed was often the cause of many previous accidents and called for pinch points to be installed at the top of the hill to slow down the traffic.

He claimed that vehicles often went through the village at speeds in excess of 60 mph with motorists also having to negotiate a sharp bend close to the junction of Skinners Lane.

Robert Barlett, who has a cottage on the corner of Skinners Lane, also called for speed cameras.

"We did have a sign for a camera but I don't think one was installed," he said.

Mr Bartlett said he had seen a number of accidents in the vicinity, including one involving several vehicles at the top of the hill towards Hambledon in May.

"At different times we have had people going through the hedge" said Mr Barlett whose home is close to the sharp bend.

He said there had been fatalities in recent years when a van crashed into a brick wall close to the Winterton pub and killed several occupants.

A man was also seriously injured when the lorry he was driving careered off the bridge and into the stream, in the same area some years ago.

Anyone with any information should contact the Surrey collision investigation unit on 01932 569922.