Security guards may be deployed to protect traffic lights in East Sussex after they have come ‘consistently under attack’ from vandals.
The lights have been shot at with air-gun pellets and set on fire in recent weeks, according to the local council.
One traffic light was apparently thrown into a hedge, with its signs thrown into the river, while batteries have also been stolen.
They were introduced in March 2021 to ‘ease congestion on the key coastal route between Seaford and Eastbourne’.
But the council is now considering whether paying for security would be cheaper than paying to repeatedly repair and replace them, SussexLive reports.
Karl Taylor, assistant director of highways operations at East Sussex County Council, said the lights had ‘a positive impact on the bottleneck at Exceat while we work on plans for a replacement, two-lane bridge’.
‘But, with the equipment consistently coming under attack, we may be forced to remove the lights altogether or use taxpayers’ money to employ security guards to protect them’, he warned.
A spokesperson for East Sussex County Council also commented saying: ‘The lights were put in place in March 2021 to ease congestion on the key coastal route between Seaford and Eastbourne while East Sussex County Council works on a permanent solution.
‘In recent weeks, batteries have been stolen from the equipment and the lights have been damaged with air-gun pellets.
‘And on Monday, February 20, one of the lights was set alight, the other was thrown into a hedge and the signs were thrown into the Cuckmere River.’
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