Arundel Town Council, organisers of the popular monthly Arundel Farmers Market, have issued an urgent warning to motorists following a rise in vehicles dangerously driving through legal road closures during event set-up and breakdown. The dangerous actions of these drivers have caused severe health and safety risks, directly threatening the lives of market staff, volunteers, and traders.
Arundel Town Council has emphasised that this is first and foremost a serious public safety issue. The temporary road closures are implemented to protect staff, volunteers and traders working within the carriageway during market set-up and breakdown. Motorists who ignore these restrictions place those individuals at significant risk of injury and undermine the safety measures designed to ensure the market can operate safely.
Recent incidents have been formally recorded and reported to Sussex Police.
To combat this dangerous behaviour, market marshals will be logging vehicle registration plates to hand directly to local police to assist with criminal prosecutions.
Arundel Town Council are appealing to the local community and visitors to respect the signage and barriers at the entrances to the market: on the north side of the High Street by the Norfolk Arms Hotel, and at the southern approach by The Swan Hotel and the No Entry signs by Arundel Post Office.
These temporary road closures are in place from 6am-3.30pm on the third Saturday of each month (extended in August and December to 5pm) and are legally mandated to protect market operatives, volunteers and the general public during the set up and breakdown of stalls and during trading hours.
Motorists are urged to plan ahead, follow the posted diversions, and cooperate with safety teams.
A plan showing the market footprint, road closure area and diversion routes for the monthly market is available at https://www.arundeltowncouncil.gov.uk/road-closures/
A live map of issues that affect all national highways, including road closures, is at https://one.network/en-gb
