Council to fix broken bollard in Lymington after woman complains 'non-one will take responsibility'

HAMPSHIRE County Council has promised to repair a broken bollard on a public path after a woman who reported it as an "accident waiting to happen" was passed from pillar to post to get it fixed.

Shirley Branscombe, from Lymington, first complained to HCC about the loose fixture on the cut-through under the railway line in the town, between Southampton Road to Wellworthy Road, which she believed had been damaged by a car.

But HCC advised she try Network Rail which in turn passed her back to HCC which then, Shirley claimed, advised her to track down the landowner herself using the Land Registry, which charges a fee.

She told the A&T: "This post has been damaged and is out of its hole. So there is a big hole and big post with a big cement bit on the bottom.

"No one – and I mean no one – will take responsibility for this. Hampshire County Council have suggested I contact Land Registry for a search which incurs a fee!

"This is a cyclepath and footpath, and this is an accident waiting to happen. I am just so fed up with chasing people on this, so you are my last hope!"

The A&T contacted Network Rail and HCC which agreed to take on the job, despite questioning the land ownership.

Cllr Nick Adams-King, HCC cabinet member for highways operations, said: “We do not believe that the area of land where the bollard sits is public highway, although our enquiries are continuing.

"However, in the interests of public safety our highways team has made arrangements to reset or replace the damaged item as appropriate.”

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: "We really appreciate the reader is concerned about the broken lamppost and thank you for sending it through to us.

"At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whose issue it is, the important thing is that it needs to be fixed for safety and we’ll be working with the council to make sure this gets fixed."

As reported in the A&T, in 2019 HCC was ordered to pay £1.5m in fines and court costs after a six-year-old girl sustained traumatic brain injuries falling off a broken bollard at at Quay Hill, Lymington, in what a judge described as an “accident waiting to happen”.

The authority was criticised at Bournemouth Crown Court where a judge highlighted a series of failings by highways chiefs.

It did not act swiftly despite being told almost a fortnight before the incident on 28th December 2015 that the 69kg bollard was defective.