“We want you to get on with it.”

Those words uttered by a frustrated councillor were echoed by dozens more fed-up and angry residents last Saturday in a startling call for action at the ‘deadly Durford Road crossroads’ in Petersfield.

Pressure is mounting on Hampshire County Council to bring forward a programme of safety improvements at the junction on Pulens Lane following another serious crash.

And this paper has backed calls for action as we’re launching a campaign in a bid to move forward work at a junction which has caused untold misery and pain for so many over decades.

To prove we’re not alone, around 100 equally fed-up residents took part in our campaign photocall at the weekend to send a message to HCC.

Data gathered by campaigners shows the junction has been an accident blackspot for years with more than 50 incidents being recorded since 2012.

The latest took place last Tuesday morning when two cars were seriously damaged in a school run smash with children among the affected passengers.

Other incidents have ranged from near-misses to firefighters freeing drivers from multi-vehicle accidents, with the sight of damaged cars and debris in the corner of the Heath becoming all-too-common.

But many of these accidents could have been prevented as Hampshire County Council has a scheme, ready to go.

Plans to make safety improvements have been in the pipeline for years but frustratingly, a fully costed and ready-to-go scheme focusing on the section between Montague Gardens and Rival Moor Road is still waiting to be implemented.

Work on the scheme – which included three “speed tables” that would see the crossroads raised along with two approach points either side on Pulens Lane – was due to begin last year but quibbles over the gradient of access from the crossroads onto the Heath pushed it back in the queue, with an autumn start date now likely.

But that’s still too late for many and with another accident involving a mother and children taking place last Tuesday.

Many of those captured on camera from above by Chris Gorman of Big Ladder last Saturday shared stories of accidents and near misses.

“What broke a lot of the community here was that children were involved in the last accident,” said Kate Cropley, whose www.change.org Pulens Lane crossroads petition has been signed by 850 and counting.

“One woman who reached out was involved in a really nasty accident yet the police classified it as slight, even though the car was written off.”

The accounts make frightening reading with pregnant women and children among the victims and multiple vehicles ending in the edge off Heath Road.

“Car drove straight over Durford Road junction,” states an entry from 14 November 2024, adding: “I suffered a broken noise, broken ribs, whiplash and concussion and two months of work.”

“Over the last five or six years it’s getting busier and busier for accidents,” said Geoff Fisher of Montague Gardens.

“On one occasion I had to jump into the hedge as a lorry came towards me at speed and mounted the pavement.”

“I think they should prioritise this project because it’s such a dangerous junction and there’s been so many accidents,” said his wife, Mary.

Rob Mocatta, Hampshire County Councillor for Petersfield Hangers, called the wait “incredibly frustrating” in addressing residents on Saturday, especially as money from housing schemes in 2015 has been set aside for the project.

He said: “It should happen later this year, in theory, and there’s been a lot of lobbying in persuading Hampshire we need the work done.

There’s huge public support for what we’re trying to do and slow the traffic down, especially as there’s so many bad accidents here and we had one in the last week.

“It’s a dangerous crossroads, we all know it is, and we just want to get on with it.”

And to quote the mother of the latest victim: “Something needs to be done drastically”.

So watch this space.