AN action group set up in Chiddingfold this week is calling for speed cameras and other measures to stop speeding through the village.

The call comes just weeks after an accident on the A283 outside the Winterton Arms in which a 48-year-old policeman and father of three died.

It was the second fatality near the pub in just over six months.

On Monday around 100 villagers packed into the Winterton Arms to put forward ideas to reduce the number of accidents at the spot where four have died in recent years.

Many agreed that present speed restrictions, which include a five-bar gate erected on the side of the road, 30 mph signs and road markings, were ineffective.

A variety of suggestions, from speed cameras and improving sight lines on the blind bend below the brow of the hill, to chicanes and traffic islands to slow traffic down, and a 40 mph speed limit along the entire stretch of the A283 between Witley and Chiddingfold, were all aired at the meeting.

A former Surrey county councillor Dr Jonathan Wood, from Petworth Road, said that the framework for dealing with transport problems was of "mind-boggling complexity."

He accused SCC of taking a "negative approach to safety at this end of the county". He believed West Sussex County Council "was much more proactive", using as example a speed camera which had been placed on the approach to Fernhurst village and the village school.

It was also suggested that the A 283 should be down-graded to a B road to accommodate a 40 mph speed limit.

Villager Jo Terry who called the meeting said she was "really pleased" with the number of people who had turned up.

"It showed how strongly people feel. There were a lot of good ideas," she said.

Miss Terry said that following the formation of the action group, it will try to set up a meeting with SCC, local MP Virginia Bottomley and the police to discuss how to move the campaign forward.

"Something must be done to make a change," she declared.

SCC principal engineer Graham Hodgson said that the county council was reviewing the speed limits on the A283.

"It will be an intense review which has already been approved by the Waverley Partnership area transportation committee, PATS," said Mr Hodgson.

Mr Hodgson said that the assessment was "just days away from being reported to the committee" with proposals which should be taken up during the forthcoming financial year.