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Fourth crash in nine months at Horsmonden danger junction

11:40, 25 January 2018

Action must be taken at a dangerous junction before someone is killed, villagers are saying.

The protests follow the latest accident in Horsmonden – the fourth in nine months at the same crossroads.

A car coming up Lamberhurst Road shot out into the junction, side-swiping a car travelling along the main Brenchley Road towards Goudhurst.

The accident happened just before 11am last Thursday and was caught by CCTV cameras at The Heath Stores on the corner of the junction.

Shop owner Kate Mills said: “All the appropriate warning signs are in place on Lamberhurst Road, but some drivers don’t seem to see them.

“There is a rise on the road just before the junction, and you do tend to come on it rather suddenly.”

There is also a suggestion that sat navs are misleading people on Lamberhurst Road into thinking they are on the main road.

Fortunately there was only one casualty from Thursday’s accident, a woman with minor injuries.

But Mrs Mills said: “The cars spun round almost into a green BT box on the corner, where there is often an engineer working.

“It is almost certainly only a matter of time before someone is killed.”

Police said inquiries were ongoing but no one has been charged with any offence.

A similar incident in March saw a John Lewis lorry and a Land Rover collide, smashing into a house, telegraph pole and phone box.

This building has been struck as a result of accidents three times.
This building has been struck as a result of accidents three times.

Heath Stores has captured each accident on CCTV and passed the footage to the parish council, which is pressing Kent Highways to do something to improve safety.

Chairman Jane March said: “We have engaged our own traffic consultants to advise us what could be done to improve safety throughout the village and we have set aside £20,000 to spend on any measures necessary.

"We cannot engineer against dangerous driving" - Kent County Council

"But we can’t do anything without Kent Highways’ approval.”

A spokesman for Kent County Council said the authority was concerned about the incidents, adding: “We have to be able to mitigate against crashes through engineering – we cannot engineer against dangerous driving.”

The issue will be discussed at the next parish council meeting, in the village hall in Back Lane at 7.30pm on Monday, February 6.

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