A Romsey man has described the 'scary situation' of construction lorries accessing a school construction site along a narrow lane.

Derek Langford, of Mill Lane, has major concerns over danger on the access track, which lorries are using to construct new SEND classrooms at The Romsey School.

Mr Langford has witnessed several near misses, with pupils having to jump out of the way of construction traffic. 

The retired engineer is calling for increased supervision when the school starts and finishes to ensure the pupils' safety.

The school is run by The Gateway Trust.

In a report compiled by Mr Langford, he said: “This is clearly a desirable project being executed by Gateway Trust. However there were deficiencies in the planning application process and there are safety concerns as large construction vehicles are operating in close proximity to school children and other pedestrians using a permitted footpath. Resolution is urgently required so that a survey can be initiated as soon as possible to prevent an avoidable accident. 

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“Large construction vehicles are crossing a permitted footpath used by school children and other pedestrians. Evidence of the incidents is recorded on my CCTV system. 

“Some lorries used for building works at the school are so large that they cannot pass around the corner of my property. Consequently they are reversing from Mill Lane along the permitted pathway and parking up in order to offload their materials next to Abbeyfields Gates. A fork lift truck is then used to transfer the goods onto the school site.”

In the original planning application, two options were given for construction access. The first is from Mill Lane, next to Mr Langford's property. The second was via Hollman Drive.

Mr Langford said that the first option was used on 'cost grounds without regard to any safety consideration.'

He said: “Whilst the gates to Hollman Drive and Mill Lane entrances are both 4.2m wide, the section of track at the side of our house narrows to 3.2m. This is barely the width of some of the lorries using the site, which have to retract their wing mirrors in order to get round the corner at Abbeyfields gates and to drive close to the high hedge.

“The track is clearly too narrow for large vehicles and the additional reversing manoeuvres they are forced to make are a clear risk to pedestrians.”

A spokesman from The Gateway Trust said: "The Romsey School are very proud to be improving and extending the South Block, our specialist SEN and ASD (Autism spectrum disorder) provision. There is ever increasing need for specialist support and these improvements will allow us to enable our most vulnerable students to fully access our mainstream secondary school curriculum and wider experiences.

"The school has of course put into place all required safety plans to ensure the safe access and egress of all of our students and the wider public around the construction site area. Since the start of this project in December 2022, our brilliant contractors have also fulfilled all specific requirements. We continue to work closely with them and our neighbours to enable the building process to progress with an expected completion date of July 2023."