Road safety campaigners take protest to No 10
00:00, 24 January 2008
CAMPAIGNERS demanding a safer road took their protest to London to deliver their petition to 10 Downing Street.
The group included Trevor and Lesley Horne, whose daughter Sam, 11, died in a crash on the A258 between Dover and Deal in May.
Mr Horne, of Trinity Place, Deal, said: "None of us will ever get over the tragic loss of Samantha but if our campaign is successful in making the road safer and lessening the likelihood of further unnecessary loss of life, then we will take some comfort by knowing that her death has not been in vain.
"Visiting Parliament and presenting our petition to Number 10 has been quite an experience and we are grateful to our MP Gwyn Prosser for helping us launch our petition and making all the arrangements for the Downing Street presentation."
Fifteen campaigners travelled to London with their petition signed by 11,000 people, all calling for action to make the Deal-Dover road safer.
Mr Prosser took the protestors around the Palace of Westminster before leading a smaller delegation to the official residence of the Prime Minister to present the petition.
The Deal-Dover MP said: "The Horne family and the other campaigners have done a tremendous job in attracting so much support for their petition.
Demonstrates strength of feeling
"By the time we handed it into Number 10 it had reached the 11,000 mark, which represents a very high proportion of the local population and demonstrates how strong people’s feelings are for safety improvements on the A258.
"The presentation to the Prime Minister will be brought to the attention of Kent County Council, who have responsibility for the road.
"We will follow this up by pressing for a meeting with KCC’s Highways Agency in order to convince them of the need for a comprehensive safety survey of this dangerous road."