Installing bollards to block vehicle access to Stamford High Street could require a council to appoint new staff

New measures to stop people driving down a pedestrianised street could require a council to take on extra staff.

Stamford Town Council is edging closer to making a decision on how to keep people safe in the town centre.

Rogue drivers have long been a concern for councillors who have witnessed many “near misses” between vehicles and pedestrians in High Street.

Drivers can access the street before 10am and after 4pm, allowing deliveries to shops and for the market to be set up and packed away, but many people are ignoring the rules.

The preferred solution is to install bollards to block access to High Street from Red Lion Square, St Paul’s Street, Maiden Lane and down Ironmonger Street.

While Lincolnshire County Council is happy to foot the bill, it has said the town council will need to be responsible for the day-to-day management of them.

County councillor Richard Davies (Con), who is responsible for highways, said: “There has been a long-standing desire to close off the High Street during the day and we’re now in a position where we can bring a traffic regulation order into place.

“I think people are broadly in agreement that we need to see an end to people driving through the High Street, but we need help with the bollards and it would be helpful if Stamford Town Council can take responsibility for putting them in place.”

Coun Davies appealed to the town council for its help at a meeting this week. He explained that bollards are the preferred choice rather than automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras, which would log the registrations of vehicles not supposed to be there but not physically stop them.

He said: “I’m not interested in fining people - this is a safety issue and I don’t want them to be driving there in the first place.”

The proposal is for vehicle access to be blocked off between 10am and 4pm each day using lockable and removable bollards. The emergency services would be issued with a key or combination code to gain access.

To move ahead with the plan, Stamford Town Council must find someone who can put them up and take them down each day. This could either be done by an existing council worker or a new job role could be created.

Councillors agreed to consider the options and are expected to make a decision at a meeting next month.

Mayor Kelham Cooke said: “It has taken a long time to get to this point. We still get complaints from residents about people driving down the high street and it’s not impossible for us to make this happen.”