Crawley pensioners blocked a pedestrian crossing to campaign for better services for the elderly.

Members of Crawley Pensioners Action Group spent an hour blocking The Boulevard in the town centre.

Some drivers became so impatient they forced their way through the group who were walking backwards and forwards with placards, ignoring the lights.

Van driver David Stephens, from Croydon, forced his way through the protest.

He said: " I have a job to do. While I appreciate they have a point to make, this is not the way to do it."

But the pensioners also enjoyed some good-natured banter with drivers amid cheers from pedestrians.

At one point three teenage students grabbed placards and joined the protest.

James Irwin, 19, of Manor Road, East Grinstead, said: "I feel elderly people should be given the respect they deserve. We are all going to be old one day."

The pensioners were taking part in a nationwide protest claiming there was a general decline in services for the elderly.

Roy Hathaway, chairman of the action group, said: "As a result of year on year cut-backs in funding, care in the community is now at its lowest level in decades."