It was an accident waiting to happen - that was the message from Hook residents after a car ploughed off the A3 and into a front garden on Sunday, February 14.

Elmcroft Drive residents had warned Transport for London (TfL) that the very thing which happened would, when they removed barriers on the A3, at the junction of their road, last November.

Michael Hoare, Chessington and District Residents’ Association member said at the time: “They have been there since Pontius was a pilot. This is dangerous in every aspect.”

He immediately wrote to TfL to voice his concerns and was told they were carrying out an audit.

Speaking after the accident, Mr Hoare said: “If you’d spoken to any member of the community they would have told you that such an accident was inevitable and that the taking down of those barriers was unforgivable.

“We made it abundantly clear when they took them down that it was a foolish, if not dangerous, thing to do.

“They said they were going to do a second audit. Well I say this is it. Put those barriers back - the barriers that should never have been taken down.”

He called for another audit on all the areas where barriers have been removed in similar circumstances.

A Transport for London spokesman said: “Where there are no clear safety benefits for guardrail on Transport for London’s (TfL) roads we look to see if they can be removed, as in many cases they are inconvenient for pedestrians and intimidating for cyclists.

“A section of guardrail along the A3 at the junction of Elmcroft Drive was removed in November following a rigorous safety assessment which showed there were no safety benefits in having the guardrail.

“We always carry out post removal safety audits at sites that have had guardrail removed, as part of our removal programme. Following this collision, we will carry out the post guardrail removal safety audit and if we find that there are any safety concerns at the site we will take whatever action is necessary to resolve them.”

It is thought the Vauxhall Astra came off the road and into the front garden of number two after a car in front braked suddenly.

David Bushnell and his wife Margaret were sitting down to their evening meal when they heard loud and continuous banging.

Mr Bushnell said: “We sat there in silence knowing there had been an accident until I said to my wife ‘that’s our fence’.

“If the railings had been there, that wouldn’t have happened. My wife said on the day they were taken down that it wouldn’t be long before a car ended up in our garden, and now it has.”

Luckily nobody was hurt in the incident and two conifers that were uprooted during the accident stopped the car from ploughing into the bungalow’s front room.

Neighbour Pat Hoare said: “Anyone walking down there would have been obliterated. They wouldn’t have stood a chance.”