“THIS is a matter of safety” – that is the message from residents demanding a pedestrian crossing is installed on Chobham Road in Sunningdale.

A petition has been created alerting the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) to the potential dangers of perpendicular parking bays in the area after a new parking scheme on Chobham Road resulted in the loss of a refuge island.

Resident Michael Clarke, who is a founding director of Vodafone, told the News residents thought the layout was “inherently dangerous” because drivers have no view of traffic in the road as they reverse out onto the road.

He added: “Residents made several representations with statistics to RBWM that angle parking is around 50 per cent less safe than parallel parking on roads with this volume of traffic and width, even with a buffer zone and humps.

“Elderly residents and parents with children in particular, navigate crossing Chobham Road with great difficulty and risk to their safety.

“Several accidents have occurred caused by reversing into traffic. Even with the rear of the vehicle fully at the extent of the buffer zone, it is impossible to see traffic from either direction, if the adjacent bays are occupied.”

Prior to the parking scheme’s implementation in February 2019, more than 200 residents submitted another petition to RBWM which called for an “immediate halt” to the plans.

But the Royal Borough did not respond to the petition and went ahead with proposals.

Residents have suggested Road Safety Auditors recommended a controlled pedestrian crossing be built on the road but the active petition claims “the highways team at RBWM have ignored them”.

Since the road scheme was completed, residents have reported safety issues including a narrowing of the carriageway, vehicles swerving unexpectedly towards the centre of the road because of a “pinch zone”, poor access for blue badge holders to access disabled bays and more.

The active petition, which has been signed by 45 people as of Wednesday, May 29, calls for the building of a pedestrian crossing as well as a review of the position of the disabled bays and a review of the entire parking layout.

A spokesperson from the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, said: “An independent Road Safety Audit was completed during all stages of the project with amendments made at the design and construction phase to respond to points highlighted by residents.

“A ‘buffer’ zone was included as part of the parking bays to improve visibility for reversing vehicles, and the design was revised to improve the informal pedestrian crossing point. We also committed to monitoring the scheme during and beyond its implementation.

“Throughout the public consultation, there was significant support for the scheme, with 88% of residents in favour of the changes. This has continued post-completion.”