AN ELDERLY woman was hit and killed in a horrific crash.

Long-time Hove resident Catherine Akehurst, 85, lost her life crossing the busy Old Shoreham Road just outside her home near Lullington Avenue in Hove at 1pm.

The harrowing crash, in which Mrs Akehurst was thrown into the air, came literally 24 hours after her neighbour emailed this newspaper warning of the likelihood of an elderly person being killed on the road.

Motorists can often be seen speeding along the wide A270 and residents and councillors have repeatedly called for speed cameras to be installed. The driver of the car, a 38-year-old Brighton man, was arrested and bailed by police. There is no suggestion he was exceeding the 30mph speed limit.

Mrs Akehurst’s neighbour Dee Menicou said: “We’ve lived next door to Cathy for 17 years, she was a nice quiet neighbour, a lovely lady.”

In CCTV footage seen by The Argus Mrs Akehurst can be seen crossing from the south side of the A270, close to her home near Homebase, shortly before 1pm on Saturday. Neighbours said she regularly caught the bus to Brighton which leaves from the northern side of the road.

She crossed the wide street close to, but unprotected by, two nearby traffic islands. She was at a point where the road is marked as single-carriageway but is wide enough to fit four cars abreast.

Having reached the centre of the road she continued on to the eastbound carriageway, where a black Toyota Celica was approaching. It is not obvious from the footage whether either party was aware of the approach of the other.

The impact threw the frail pedestrian in the air and the car tyres blew smoke as the driver braked hard. The car quickly came to a halt. The windscreen and bonnet was badly damaged in the crash.

The driver leapt out of the vehicle, ran to the see what had happened, and can then be seen immediately making a call on his mobile phone while passers-by approach to offer assistance.

Khody Damestani, outside whose front door the collision happened, said: “It was an almighty crash. It was a horrible sound, I knew something bad had happened.”

He said the ambulance arrived within minutes.

Only the previous day, near-neighbour Sylvia Harwood wrote to The Argus to warn of the road’s dangers.

She wrote: “There are elderly and disabled people here attempting to cross the road, it won’t be long before there is a fatality.”

Yesterday she said she was “devastated” to have been proved right, and renewed her calls for a speed camera to be installed.

Ward Councillor Vanessa Brown, whose previous appeals for safety measures on the A270 have been rejected, by council officers, said she would make the issue her highest priority. She said: “It should have been done long ago.”

Police closed the busy road in both directions for a half-mile stretch from Holmes Avenue to Sackville Road, from 1pm to 7pm.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "The driver of the Toyota was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving while over the prescribed limit of a specified drug and possession of a controlled drug. He has since been released under investigation."

Anyone with information about the incident can contact police on 101 quoting Operation Parakeet.

CAMERAS ‘SHOULD HAVE BEEN’ ON NOTORIOUS ROAD

THERE is no suggestion that the driver whose car hit and killed Catherine Akehurst on Saturday afternoon was speeding.

However, there have been, for years, calls for the installation of speed cameras and pedestrian crossings on this notorious stretch of wide road.

It is limited to 30mph but drivers race along it at all hours of the day and night.

On Friday afternoon at 1pm, just 24 hours prior to the horrifying car crash which would end Mrs Akehurst’s life, Sylvia Harwood, who lives just opposite Mrs Akehurst’s former home, sent an email to The Argus.

With disconcerting foresight, she wrote: “I have been contacting my councillor for Hove Park on several occasions regarding the excessive speed vehicles travel along the stretch of the Old Shoreham Road by Aldrington Avenue. This can be up to 70mph.

“There are elderly and disabled people here attempting to cross the road. It won’t be long before there is a fatality.”

Her letter continued: “Nothing is ever done about the speed of these vehicles.

“Could anyone who lives and uses this road contact our councillor and try and add some weight to this issue in the hope we can get a safety camera.”

Yesterday, Mrs Harwood told The Argus: “I wrote on Friday because I was so fed up with the speeding vehicles. The speed of the vehicles is absolutely ridiculous, some of them are going 60 or 70mph.

“I asked whether it would take a fatality before something was done and then 24 hours later my elderly neighbour is killed by a motorist right outside my house.

“It doesn’t give me any satisfaction. It’s awful. But I’ve lived here for 50 years and the road has got progressively worse with regard to speeding vehicles.

“There is a sign saying 30mph just down there which nobody takes any notice of.

“There have been several accidents along here, both vehicles colliding with each other and cars hitting pedestrians.”

She has distributed a further letter to neighbours encouraging them to lobby the council for a speed camera to be installed.

Khody Damestani, 43, a lecturer, said: “I’ve noticed later in the evening, that people do go quite fast. The other evening I saw two cars going incredibly fast one right behind the other, in a very intimidating manner. They were going so fast.

“I do think there needs to be a speed camera here.”

Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The police have limited resources and do not enforce the speed limit as much as they would like. Cars often race along the road at breakneck speeds.

“I contacted our local councillors yesterday asking for them to support some speed cameras.”

Vanessa Brown, one of the ward’s two Conservative councillors, said: “I’m devastated there has been this accident. This is awful news.

“It’s just awful to think something like this has to happen before something gets done. It should have been done a long time ago.

“Previously, we have asked for speed cameras and pedestrian crossings, and we’ve been turned down. We made a request for a pedestrian crossing to council officers a couple of years ago but they decided it didn’t fulfil the criteria.

“Obviously now we will appeal for speed cameras again, and for a pedestrian crossing.”

Speed camera installation is governed by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, a cross-body organisation which brings together Sussex Police, East and West Sussex county councils, East and West Sussex fire and rescue services, Brighton and Hove City Council and Highways England.

No spokesman for the organisation was available for comment yesterday.

The driver of the Toyota, a 38-year-old Brighton man, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving while over the prescribed limit of a specified drug and possession of a controlled drug.

He has since been released under investigation.