URGENT action is being called for to stop speeding motorists putting the lives of Haslemere residents at risk.

A group of campaigners in Petworth Road are lobbying Surrey County Council to fund safety measures to slow traffic down on one of the main approach roads into Haslemere.

Their petition, the second to the county council in three years, comes after a number of accidents and near misses on the busy section of Petworth Road leading into the town.

It also follows calls from Haslemere traders, Bill French of Objets d'Arts and Grant Cockerill of Cockerills shoe shop for a pedestrian crossing on Lower Street - the approach road on the other side of the Town Hall.

Mr French told The Herald last year that he has watched pedestrians "run the gauntlet" as they cross the busy traffic intersection behind the town hall.

Petworth Road resident and one of the organisers of the petiton, James Kirkwood, said: "The traffic coming into Haslemere on Petworth Road travels at a very high speed. Drivers seem to totally disregard the speed limit. Does Surrey County Council have to wait until someone dies or is seriously injured before it will do anything to make the road safer?"

But a spokesman for Surrey County Council explained that only accidents which lead to serious injury or death are recorded, this means that their records show that no accidents have happened on that section of Petworth Road in the last three years.

The spokesman said: "We recognise that roads can be potentially dangerous even if our records don't show there have been any accidents. Our difficulty is that we only have so much money to spend on the road improvement programme each year."

Mr Kirkwood has gathered the support of at least eight other residents on the road, and local businesses are also in favour of safety improvements.

But he said that he is angry that nothing has been done by the county council since the residents' first petition was made in 2000.

"I am frustrated because the council does not seem to have listened to us.

"The traffic calming measures are being put in all around Haslemere but we seem to have been forgotten and the traffic on this road is getting worse," Mr Kirkman said.

Partner of Crofts Veterinary Surgery on Petworth Road, Ann Sealey, told The Herald: "I am very worried about the situation.

"There have been so many times that I have wanted to put up a big sign saying 'Slow down' or '30 mph' to remind drivers that they are breaking the speed limit."

Mrs Sealey added that drivers coming into the town are well into the 30 mph zone when they reach her surgery, but it is rare that any pay attention to the speed limit.

"The entrance to our surgery off the road is a tricky junction and you need to have very quick reactions to get in and out safely. I am concerned for our clients especially some of the older people whose reactions may not be as fast as they once were," Mrs Sealey said.

Mrs Sealey, along with Mr Kirkwood, said that a similar scheme to that introduced in Grayswood would suit the road.

"I don't think there's a need for speed bumps or narrowing of the road, that might make congestion even worse. A sign showing the speed limit would be inexpensive and might help," Mrs Sealey said.

County councillor for Haslemere, Christine Stevens told The Herald this week that she has invited Mr Kirkwood to present the petition to the next meeting of the council's local committee.

Mrs Stevens said: "Unfortunately the road is not on our funding programme for this year, but it is on our forward programme.

"I support Mr Kirkwood's petition and will work with the council officers and the town council to find a way of funding work to the road as soon as possible."

• There was an accident on Petworth Road on February 4 when drivers and passengers narrowly escaped injury when a Stagecoach bus and a car collided.

Mr Kirkwood was getting ready to leave his house that morning to buy a newspaper when he heard the impact.

"I think it was very lucky that there weren't any pedestrians on that part of the road that morning because I don't think they would have had very much chance of walking away uninjured.

"It is the pedestrians on the road that I worry most about - they are not protected by 'metal cages' like car drivers," Mr Kirkwood added.