Vigilante pensioner takes matters into own hands over 'death trap' roundabout
A campaigner fed up with waiting for a local council to deal with a “lethal death trap” of a roundabout has taken action by spraying his own road markings.
Peter Sharratt, 71, says a lack of markings near a notorious junction has caused motorists to regularly come close to colliding with other vehicles.
They were removed months ago when roadworks were completed close to the confusing junction, near the junction of the A50 and A5033 in Knutsford, Cheshire, and not replaced.
After witnessing a number of close calls he took matters into his own hands and went out at dawn to spray arrows indicating the lanes motorists needed to be in.
Peter, a retired journalist, said: "I thought it was a very dangerous situation.
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Peter Sharratt with his newly painted road markings (Peter Sharratt / SWNS)"I regularly drive on this road and people are very confused about which lane they should be in.
"I had witnessed a number of near crashes on the roundabout by people not knowing which lane they should be in.
“I wrote to the council about this only to receive a perfunctory and unhelpful response.
"They didn’t say they were able to do anything any time soon."
Peter headed out at around 4.30am on Sunday, June 4, in a high-vis jacket and armed himself with spray cans of white paint to fix the road himself.
For safety, he blocked the road with his car while he got to work in an act he dubbed “mark out to help out”.
Peter said contractors dug up the road for electrical work a couple of months ago, but the roundabout was never put back to its previous condition.
The state of the markings before Peter got to work (Peter Sharratt / SWNS)
Peter's handiwork after his early morning work (Peter Sharratt / SWNS)He also said he has contacted Cheshire East Council about the roundabout but was given an 'unhelpful response.'
Peter added: “These markings were there for a very good reason. These signs urgently need doing.
"This work should be put at the top of their priority list. It beggars belief the council is relying on a 71-year-old pensioner with a spray can to do the work we already pay them for.
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“When the council sanctioned contractors to dig up the road for electrical work on the bypass many months ago, they should have ensured it was put back into its previous condition."
Fellow local Jim Burgess highlighted the dangers posed by the lack of markings in a letter to the local newspaper.
He said some drivers don’t realise the left lane at the roundabout is for turning left while the right lane is for going straight and turning right.
The council slammed Peter for taking the risk (Peter Sharratt / SWNS)In his letter, Mr Burgess urged the council to get the road markings renewed ‘as a matter of urgency before there is a really serious accident’.
He wrote: "The roundabout is always busy and an accident there causes significant backlogs in all directions.
"I myself had a very near miss this week and it was only an emergency stop on my part which avoided an accident."
Cheshire East Council described his actions as 'unwise' and he would have been to blame had there been any accidents while he was marking the roads, adding works at the roundabout is scheduled for later this month.
A spokesperson said: “Mr Sharratt may feel his actions in spray painting his own road markings were well motivated, however, this was a dangerous action, which placed himself and other road users at risk.
"It was an unwise thing to do and in the event of any incidents, then the onus of responsibility would fall on the individual, in this case Mr Sharratt.
"The council has already scheduled works at this roundabout junction to reinstate existing road markings and undertake additional patching works, which will be carried out at the end of this month.
"The council identifies work through an asset management approach and, due to limited budgets available, we have to prioritise work across the borough.
"In addition, the council has invested additional money into the highways budget, and this has seen the road marking budget increase for 2022/23 and 2023/24."
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