A COUPLE of police cars and policemen were at the bottom of Brettell Lane last Tuesday (6th March). It must be the first time in the lane for them this year.

They were attending a road accident that had happened on the pedestrian crossing. If there isn't an incident or an accident you never catch sight of them in this area, nor the community officers if it comes to that.

Brettell Lane isn't alone with its lack of police presence, others areas are the same. But tell me this, where can you find them? I can see plenty of police cars parked at local stations during the day so that may partially answer my query, but what about those on foot patrol?

Like the much hyped Police Station (if it could be called that) that was once sited in the Foster Street underpass and seemingly never manned, there is a similar Police Office within the grounds of the Brook Primary School to serve Brettell Lane and the immediate area.

If I remember correctly it was hailed in the press as one of the first to be annexed to a school.

The problem is it is never open. No that's incorrect, it's open every fortnight on a Thursday evening from 7pm for two hours for members of the community to voice their problems or concerns.

Is this what is known as neighbourhood policing?

At the bottom of Brettell Lane a Road traffic act in being broken practically every few minutes during the working day, and it will ultimately lead to other possible fatalities similar to one that occurred last year.

Travelling up Brettell Lane from Amblecote High Street, motorists find that they are almost immediately confronted with a light controlled pedestrian crossing that is sited a few metres past Park Street on the right.

And this presents a problem. Many motorists turn into Park Street for free off road parking facilities or access. These motorists frequently have to give way to oncoming traffic down the Lane and they have to wait on the zigzag lines.

When this happens motorists travelling up Brettell Lane invariably pass on the inside of the waiting vehicles and thus break the law by overtaking within the designated zigzag zone.

These are crazy motorists more concerned with making unhindered progress and haste up the lane. The point is, they frequently fail to notice that the lights have changed in favour of the pedestrians and that half the crossing is obscured by traffic waiting to turn into Park Street. There is every possibility that someone will suffer injury on the crossing one day, and this might well have been the case with the accident last week.

What is the purpose in mentioning this, you might think, when my original point was about the lack of policing in Brettell Lane?

Well, it's simple really. As I have said, this overtaking manoeuvre is a motoring infringement. But it is not the only one in evidence in the Lane. There are the motorists who park on the crossing anytime from 5am onwards to nip into the newsagents. Shoppers that park on the yellow lines to visit Spar or the Café. Van drivers parking on the pavements. Vehicles obstructions on road junctions, Each and every one of the offenders is getting off scot-free.

Before all too long, if we don't have a police officer patrolling the Lane, even if it is only half an hour - a day - these offences will descend to the level of bicycling on the pavements or travelling without lights. A law in name only, and the practice continuing with the tacit agreement of the Police.

Brettell Lane has a high density of traffic movement and is frequented a large number of pedestrians. Is it only when road accidents occur will we see officers of the law?

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