I painted my own zebra crossing on busy road but council slapped me with £130 fine – I did a better job than they did

AN ELDERLY man who was forced to paint his own crosswalk on a busy road has been fined £130 by his local council.

Laurie Phillips, 79, felt the need to do something after council leaders failed to respond to calls for an official border crossing.

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So the pensioner went to work himself, painting six rectangular blocks on the street outside his Dorset home.

The retired psychotherapist insists his crossing is “dramatically safer” for pedestrians – as motorists respected that and let people cross.

But after four days, the problem was brushed aside by community workers and Laurie was fined a hefty £130 for his home improvement campaign.

The pensioner, a retired psychotherapist, was questioned by police over alleged property damage.

Now Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) City Council has put three slow down signs on the road.

Laurie called the city council’s “stubborn” response to his actions an “overreaction.”

He said: “It’s just ironic that they washed away the signs I made and said they weren’t necessary and 18 months later they’re now painting their own signs.”

“It’s better than nothing, but not much better as almost all cars are still not slowing down.”

“I think I managed better the first time – my markers were wider and took up more space on the road.”

“Not many people slow down because of a slow speed sign, they only do it when the speed limit changes or there’s a speed camera.”

He added: “Looking back at how I was treated after the temporary crosswalk the advice was very adamant, it was an overreaction and could have been handled much more sensibly.”

Laurie, who also started a 100-signature petition for a crosswalk, received a community order, but he didn’t challenge it in court, saying it was “not worth the hassle.”

He said his wife Estelle, 77, who uses an electric scooter, and other disabled residents face discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Mudeford Quay is popular with visitors and up to 5,000 cars a day use the road.

The BCP council said the “slow” line markings would protect both road users and pedestrians.

A council spokesman said: “The ‘slow’ line markings were put in place following discussions about what can be done to protect both road users and pedestrians on the Chichester Way.”

“We are pleased that this has been completed by our Lining team as it is still an active safety measure while crossing requests are reviewed.”

The council has received an application to set up a crosswalk and will consider the measure soon.

“We can confirm that a crossing request has been submitted for this area. We have a lot of inquiries to consider, but we intend to conduct a site visit in the coming months around April or May.”

“By ‘assessment’ we mean visiting the site for several hours and physically counting all vehicle traffic and pedestrians crossing.

“We need to conduct these assessments at the busiest time, which means we will conduct our visit here when we anticipate warmer weather and more visitors.”

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