Goodbye to Britain’s most hated bollard? Pylon blamed for string of car crashes could be replaced with CCTV

• Hundreds of cars have been damaged by the road-narrowing bollards in Watford 

A notorious set of bollards, responsible for a string of car crashes, could soon be scrapped as council chiefs consider plans to replace them with CCTV.

Width restriction bollards on Woodmere Avenue in Watford have caused chaos for unsuspecting drivers ever since they were installed over a decade ago.

Footage of smashes have gone viral with many cars being written off and ending up on two wheels. 

Motorists have faced difficulty at the restriction due to the narrowness of the road and the bollards being too close to the edge of the kerbs.

Hertfordshire County Council sought to improve the situation around a year ago by widening the road and moving the bollards further away from the kerbs.

But the local authority may go a step further by getting rid of the width limit altogether and replacing it all together.

The bollards, responsible for a string of car crashes, could soon be scrapped as council chiefs consider plans to replace them with CCTV 

Tim Vigor (pictured), who has lived next to the bollards a decade, has watched ‘countless’ crashes over the years 

Hertfordshire County Council sought to improve the situation around a year ago by widening the road and moving the bollards further away from the kerbs 

Drivers have faced difficulty at the restriction due to the narrowness of the road and the bollards being too close to the edge of the kerbs 

Tim Vigor, who lives next to the bollards, has watched ‘countless’ crashes over the years – and even set up a Ring doorbell camera to document the chaos in the hopes of persuading Hertfordshire County Council to do something.

He said: ‘It’s a nightmare, people crash all the time.

‘Before they widened the restriction last year, there were about three or four crashes a day. People were bursting tyres, denting their cars, knocking wing mirrors off.

‘I’ve watched people flip their entire cars over a few times. Once, I saw one of the posts go through someone’s window, and another time, a bus completely ripped its door off.

‘Plenty of people have ended up with their cars written off. Lots go through the bus lane instead, as a fine is cheaper than replacing their car.’

Mr Vigor, who works as a petrol tanker driver, explained that one of the main things which catches people out is the way the road is constructed.

He said: ‘There’s a drop kerb just before the restriction, so some people end up with their cars on the kerb without even realising – and so they smash straight into the bollards.

‘I contacted the council a bunch of times about it, but they would never do anything – never admit it was a problem. Things only started moving when I took the videos, and I posted them online.’

The bollards at the end of residential Woodmere Avenue in Watford were installed over a decade ago to prevent lorries from driving down

Mr Vigor has spent years trying to convince the council to do something about the restriction

As the bollards are so narrow, many vehicles – including a police van – often collide with the width restriction on and end up on two wheels

Meanwhile, Barry Felton, who also lives in front of the infamous width restriction, said he had become used to hearing crashes

Locals have been calling for the bollards to be changed for years after a string of crashes caused chaos for drivers

Hertfordshire County Council is currently running a consultation asking for residents to give their views on what should happen to the infamous bollards 

Hertfordshire County Council is currently running a consultation asking for residents to give their views on what should happen to the infamous bollards. One option is to leave the road as it is, but other proposals include widening the restriction or removing it altogether to replace it with cameras.

READ MORE: ‘The stuff of nightmares!’: ‘Creepy’ child-shape bollards designed to alert drivers to school crossing are branded ‘terrifying’ and have turned village into ‘an 80s horror film’ 

Mr Vigor is hoping for the latter. He said: ‘It will be nice for it to go. I get woken up at all times of the night, and, when I’ve worked a night shift, I get woken up at all times of the day too.’ 

Mr Vigor’s next-door neighbour Peter Hancock is also hoping the restriction is replaced with something else. He said: ‘It’s been a nightmare over the years.

‘Every couple of hours someone would hit something. People were destroying their cars – there was even a police van which hit one of the posts.

‘What makes things worse is the traffic lights across the road, as people race the lights and then end up coming into the restriction so fast.’

Mr Hancock, who works in telecommunications, is looking forward to the bollards being replaced.

He said: ‘Things have been better since they widened the restriction around a year ago, and some people like it because they don’t want lorries on the road. But I think it needs to go.

‘I have no idea how long that will take though, as the council hasn’t exactly given us much information.’

One car can be seen with a flat tyre after driving through the infamous bollards

A blue Skoda hatchback is thrown onto two wheels after crashing into the narrow bollards 

One option is to leave the road as it is, but other proposals include widening the restriction or removing it altogether to replace it with cameras

A draft proposal of Hertfordshire County Council’s plans to replace the bollards with CCTV

Meanwhile, Barry Felton, who also lives in front of the infamous width restriction, said he had become used to hearing crashes.

He said: ‘Every now and again you just hear this almighty bang, and you think, “what the hell?”, before you remember the bollards.

‘Some of the drivers are just idiots, though. One time, I saw someone learning to drive crash into it after coming in way too fast – and I thought, what was the instructor doing? Use the dual control!’

Mr Felton, who used to run a driving school, admitted that he doesn’t believe the road will actually change.

‘They’ve been talking about doing it for years. The council simply aren’t interested in fixing it.

‘I really doubt they’re going to spend money on this. It’s just never going to happen – I reckon the bollards will stay.’

Hertfordshire County Council have been contacted for comment. 

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