COASTAL NEWS

THE BAD…

The owner of Southwold’s ninedeli has warned that someone could end up being killed as motorists regularly drive the wrong way down his one-way road.

On an almost daily basis, James Scott, says he is forced to watch the regular “near misses” from his popular Pinkneys Lane eaterie, voted number one on Tripadvisor. He claims the road signage is poor but also there’s no need for cars to come down this well-used lane, popular with locals and tourists, as it serves no other purpose for “speeding” vehicles other than being “a rat run.” He claims Suffolk Police and Suffolk County Council as they are regularly tagged into his warnings his company’s Instagram page and have not reached out to him. As you can see from his photos here, he’s right to be alarmed… “It feels like no-one is listening,” he storms.

THE UGLY…

Toxic chemical cocktails have been found at over 1,600 river and groundwater sites across England including several in Suffolk, such as the Rivers Waveney and Gipping.

New analysis, from the Wildlife and Countryside Link and The Rivers Trust, of official Environment Agency data has revealed the worrying scale of chemical cocktail pollution in the county’s rivers and other freshwater sites. They found:

• Over half (54%) of the sites in the UK contained three or more of the five harmful chemical cocktails investigated, including forever chemicals such as PFOS, PFOA, PFBS and PFHxS, the pesticide 2,4 as well as the painkiller, Ibuprofen.

• Up to 101 chemicals were identified in river samples, with sites including the River Stour, containing the highest numbers of chemicals. A group of charities, including Surfers Against Sewage, The Wildlife Trusts and The National Trust have launched a ‘Chemical Cocktail Campaign,’ urging the Government to regulate these chemicals, monitor rivers more regularly and look at new legal protection.

Ellen Bradley, Co-Director of UK Youth For Nature, says: “It’s a recipe for disaster for nature and future generations.”

A spokesperson for Thérèse Coffey’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says, “We are working closely with our regulators to assess the potential risks posed by unintentional chemical mixtures to our environment ... We will set out our approach to managing chemical mixtures in the Chemicals Strategy later this year.” l The charities’ are urging the public to sign a letter to Ms Coffey demanding action here, theriverstrust.org/chemical-cocktail-campaign

“Will it really take the death of a small child before they do anything to resolve this dangerous road, and the dangerous junction that turns out into the High Street?”

A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman, says, “We want to reassure residents, we fully appreciate and understand the distress that anti-social driving behaviour causes to local residents. We want to encourage people to report specific incidents to us and will always endeavour to respond effectively. Members of the public can assist us by recording the registration details of the vehicles involved in inappropriate and anti-social driving, along with a description of the vehicles and its occupants.” l Anyone with relevant dash-cam footage should contact Suffolk police by visiting, suffolk.police.uk/contact-us/ report-something.