LETTER: Bewildered by traffic chaos

As a resident of West Wittering, I am completely bewildered how the traffic jam created by visitors to West Wittering Beach on the 18/6/17 was allowed to develop into such a chaotic state.

I live in Elms Lane and by 10am on Sunday, Elms Lane and Rookwood Road were already log jammed with vehicles. The traffic continued to build throughout the day and cars were still queuing all the way up Elms Lane, Rookwood Road and Cakeham Road until after 5pm with people still trying to get to the beach.

Through sheer frustration people were abandoning their cars on Elms Lane, Royce Way and any other side road they could. Some visitors were abusive to locals whose houses they had dumped their cars outside.

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Visitor were walking through residents’ gardens as if they were public areas and leaving their rubbish behind.

Unbelievably some visitors had been on the road for five to six hours with young children, sadly some of them never got near the beach, some residents have been trapped in their homes or unable to get back to their homes due to the jams.

The fire brigade were on duty trying their best to bring some order to the chaos but this should never have been allowed to develop into such a mess.

West Wittering Beach is a business and it has responsibilities to both its customers and residents alike. Clearly there were safety issues that could arise in such a situation, not to mention public disorder through a build-up of frustration on all sides.

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Face up to the issues WWB, the local infrastructure and facilities will not accommodate the number of people wishing to visit the area.

It cannot be beyond the wit of man to provide information to visitors so they can make an informed decision as to if they wish to sit in a traffic jam all day or choose another location to visit.

I also understand that traffic leaving WWB was still queuing to get of the peninsular at 11pm.

Great business revenue no doubt, why not spend some of it on public relations and information?