A shop owner who claims his fish and chip

business was ruined by road humps said today: "West Sussex County Council should be held to account."

Clive Swonnell believes the council made a mistake when it installed 17 humps in The Strand, Durrington, Worthing.

He said 60 per cent of his passing trade was wiped out, forcing him to close the fish bar, a decision which cost him £60,000.

Mr Swonnell, 60, of Walders Road, Rustington, is now trying to find out from other traders across the country whether any council has ever been sued for loss of business due to the installation of road humps.

He took over the shop in 1993 and said that in the first four months of 1994 trade was up 18 per cent on the previous year.

But in 1995 the county council installed the road humps and business fell

dramatically.

Mr Swonnell said: "Passing trade was reduced by 60 per cent in The Strand as traffic sought other routes to avoid the humps.

"We soldiered on for three years, but in retailing it is very important that the

public is kept aware of

your presence, and we were out of sight and out of mind."

He held a survey of customers and found that more than 80 per cent of people living in the area were against the humps.

Mr Swonnell said those with homes near road

humps suffered ten times more pollution than before, and an increase in noise due to motorists constantly speeding up and slowing down.

He is angry that after his business closed down, county surveyor Alan Lovell produced a report stating: "Attitudes to traffic calming, particularly those involving vertical deflection (road humps,) are changing and there is less recourse to this type of measure."

Mr Swonnell said: "Local authorities often get things wrong, but they are very well protected by statute against being sued.

"When West Sussex imposed this scheme on the public and shopkeepers they didn't research their case

histories to see what the downside was.

"They went ahead because it was politically correct and they were seen to be doing something, but they achieved nothing.

"Road humps do not work and it is about time local authorities were called to account for cases of maladministration.

"As far as I am concerned it caused the loss of my

business."

A county council spokes-man said when they put forward plans for the humps, just 15 people objected.

They were installed after 66 people, 31 of them children, were hurt in accidents in the area over a six year period.

He said road humps were still considered when the county council was looking at ways of slowing down traffic.

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