A BUSY seafront road has been closed to allow more space for exercise while keeping a safe distance apart.

Brighton and Hove City Council blocked off Madeira Drive yesterday from the Palace Pier to Dukes Mound. The result was the usually busy road was almost deserted.

Transport committee chairwoman Councillor Anne Pissaridou said: “Madeira Drive is a long, wide road right by the seafront and will create an extra safe open space for local people in the area to use for their daily walk or bike ride.

“It will provide a traffic-free place for the many residents in that area who do not have access to a garden.

The Argus:

“Practising social distancing is making us all aware of the importance of public spaces and making us rethink how we use them, but I would also ask that cyclists and pedestrians respect each other’s space and safety in this shared area.

“We’re all in this together.

“We are pleased to be able to offer this change so quickly and are considering other locations to see if we can extend this to other roads in the city.”

The authority used emergency powers given in response to the coronavirus pandemic to order the road to be closed.

It said Madeira Drive and Dukes Mound would be shut to motor vehicles.

The Argus:

Madeira Drive will be manned by stewards for its full length from the Palace Pier roundabout from 8am to 8pm daily.

Businesses will still be allowed access to essential properties and this will be organised from Dukes Mound.

Signs will be put up advising people to keep a safe distance apart from each other.

Council chiefs are also looking at other areas where streets could be closed to traffic at a time when the number of vehicles on the road has fallen.

The Argus:

The authority repeated its message that people should stay home to protect the National Health Service and only go out for essential reasons.

These include to buy groceries and medicines, to go to work if working from home is not possible, and to exercise – but only close to home and for one hour a day.

The closure comes as hundreds of people were pictured on Hove Lawns on Sunday.

Pictures by Simon Dack

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