THE leaders of East Hampshire District Council and Waverley Borough Council joined fellow donors on Tuesday to celebrate the successful conclusion to Grayshott’s ‘Mission Impossible’.

Residents began to fear their four-year campaign to raise £80,000 for a permanent fix for the dangerously potholed access to busy Grayshott Surgery might not succeed.

But the “shameful” state of Boundary Road, an unadopted bridleway, struck a chord in both counties when the potholes got so bad a year ago it became too hazardous for ambulances to access the surgery and patients had to be wheeled to the village hall car park.

Vital resurfacing and drainage works were completed before Christmas and representatives of some of the major donors, including district authorities, town and parish councils and local businesses, gathered for an official celebration hosted by lead campaigner Julia Tarento, chairman of Boundary Road Residents Association, to celebrate the campaign’s success.

The names of all those who contributed, including 300 individuals who donated amounts from £1 to £2,000, are now recorded as a commemorative record in the surgery.

Mrs Tarento (see letters page) thanked EHDC leader and Grayshott district councillor Ferris Cowper for contributing a hefty £25,000 to the campaign, and Waverley Borough Council leader Julia Potts for appreciating it was a cross-border issue and providing funds, together with Grayshott Parish Council and Haslemere Town Council.

Mr Cowper praised Mrs Tarento for the “sheer human effort” involved in getting everyone on board and Miss Potts hoped the two authorities would continue to work together for the benefit of residents.

“This was a big issue for residents of Hampshire and Surrey,” she said.

“We have to recognise you can’t always compartmentalise things and need to take a pragmatic approach.”

Special guest at this week’s celebration was disabled resident Jeremy Barnes, who launched Boundary Road Action Group, back in July 2015, and successfully raised wider awareness of the campaign.