SIR: As a long term resident of Hyde, much of which has been on Hyde Street itself, I feel we have a vested interest in replying to Dr AE Russell’s letter in the Chronicle on October 22 .

There have been some very successful improvements to traffic in Hyde over the last few years one being the introduction of pinch kerbs (I hope I have the right term for describing the narrowing of the road to allow one car through at a time) in Hyde Street itself and the other the introduction of a 20mph speed limit.

Sadly, this badly needs to be policed with the introduction of CCTV cameras to catch those exceeding the limit but the idea is an excellent one which not only cuts speed to a much safer level but also cuts down the pollution.

However, this latest closure of access to and from Hyde is nothing short of catastrophic in the wider scheme of the city. Traffic has built up in Worthy Lane, Andover Road, City Road, Jewry Street and North Walls. This has inevitably caused a higher level of pollution and a significant increase in the time it takes to cross the city. I have been told on good authority that the time it takes to come from Highcliffe to Hyde has increased by 15 to 20 minutes. Are we not trying to bring down the level of pollution not increase it, both for the benefit to the health of our citizens but also in the fight against climate change in general. The residents of Hyde Street cannot protect their small area to the detriment of the rest of the city.

Guinevere Harvey,

Danes Road,

Hyde,

Winchester