A HALSTEAD councillor has thrown his support to the bid for some form of speed prevention along Colchester Road.

Dave Gronland sits on Braintree Council’s local highways panel, as well as Braintree’s association of local councils, and is calling for action to be taken due to the frequency of incidents.

Colchester Road resident, William Marsh’s front wall has been struck by vehicles five times in the last 10 years, while other residents have reported similar incidents.

After meeting Mr Marsh, Mr Gronland is preparing to start the lengthy battle of getting some form of speed prevention installed.

He said: “Unfortunately, as we all know, it is a long process, and sometimes it does take a very long time to get anywhere.

“I have already spoken to our Highways Officer to see if this falls in our brief, and it is now a case of gathering all the information regarding to incidents along Colchester Road.

"There has been a lot of incidents in that small area, and in all honesty we have been lucky there has not been a serious incident. It definitely needs to be looked at, and I am on the case so to speak.”

It is unclear what form of speed prevention would be preferred, but Mr Gronland believes it is highly unlikely a speed camera will be installed due to the high costs involved.

More likely would be signs warning of a sharp bend approaching.

Mr Gronland favours a vehicle activated sign, which would track vehicles’ speed and warn drivers if they are going too fast.

He added: “You just have to look at the pictures that the Gazette have published to see the significant amount of damage, and you know the cars must be going at some speed.

“As you come down the road and past Courtaulds, you feel like you’re on your way out of town, you come round the bend and then the roundabout is on you very quickly, especially if you don’t know the area.

“You can’t just keep letting it happen, it has happened enough now that it needs to be looked at seriously.”