Published: Saturday, 13th December, 2008 12:00pm

Residents cheer as road is blocked at one end

PEOPLE power has won the day in a battle to have a residential road blocked off to through traffic, for now at least.

Residents in Pitts Road, Slough had worked for five years to get the road closed and they saw progress on Monday when bollards to block access were installed as part of an experimental project.

Campaigner Junior Samra said: "It has been a nightmare for the residents. It has been used as a cut through and there have been accidents.

"We realised that something needed to be done because there is no sense of community in the road simply because people use it as a cut through. We felt that the way forward would be for the road to be blocked off."

They had met with members of Slough Borough Council to discuss their plight and alternative options were also suggested.

A council spokesman said: "The whole aim of the blocking is to prevent rat running between the A4 and Farnham Road. The scheme at the moment is an experimental project and if successful it will be made permanent."

Mr Samra added: "It was a long, arduous campaign but through perseverance and belief you can change things. We as a community stuck together and we got the job done.

"Now you can't go through the road, there are bollards physically in the middle of the road. As a neighbourhood, that is going to give a little bit of life back to us to be as neighbourly as possible.

"We can't really reap the rewards yet although there have been about 50 or 60 cars having to do U-turns already."

The bollards are expected to remain there a year before being reviewed.