Hampshire Woman's New Drive Blocked By Lamp Post

A Hampshire great-grandmother has been left red-faced after she had a driveway laid just days after council contractors put a lamp post directly at the end of it.

Widow Kathleen Annals had arranged for the drive to be put in after becoming frustrated that friends and family had nowhere to park when visiting her at her detached home in Andover. But now the pensioner is faced with further problems as she will have to apply for the new lamp post to be moved so that her visitors can access the newly-laid drive.

Mrs Annals said:

"Last year they issued parking space permits outside, I have no car since my husband died but I have friends and people come to visit and nowhere for them to park so I thought I should have a driveway put in.

"This lamp post was put in by the council, I had a small wall there at first. The contractor for the driveway said that he was going to put in to the council to have a dropped kerb and he's going to apply for the lamp post to be moved as well.

"He thought he would do the drive first then put in for it to be moved - it's all the wrong way round and now everybody has come and photographed it."

A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council said that the lamp post was installed as part of a rolling programme of installations in the area. She added that applications for dropped kerbs and moving lamp posts would be looked at on an individual basis.

The council normally charges between £600 and £1,200 for a dropped kerb to be installed. She said:

"We are grateful to the householder for acknowledging that her drive way was laid some time after the street light column was installed.

"She has submitted a request this week for work to be carried out on the footway to enable vehicle access to and from the highway.

"Clearly, this will require the street light to be moved. We are assisting Mrs Annals with her application for a dropped kerb, including making the necessary arrangements for the street light column to be moved.

"We would normally seek to recover the costs associated with work to lower a kerb or moving a street light. However, each case is individually assessed and this is no exception. We will ensure that the works to provide a dropped kerb and to relocate the street light are co-ordinated to keep costs and any inconvenience to a minimum."