WHILE walking along Hungerford Road in Crewe, I noticed that there was a 'no waiting' sign pole on the pavement, badly rusted at floor level with a hole almost as big as a tennis ball on one side.

It was obviously in an extremely dangerous condition so I decided to report it to the highways department.

The lady there didn't seem unduly concerned but made a note of it and gave me a reference number.

It is obvious that the corrosion was caused by rainwater entering from the open top of the pole and becoming trapped there causing it to rust, unseen from the inside.

Given the amount of rain we have in this country, it wouldn't take a genius to realise that there is a simple solution to this problem by fitting a plastic cap, costing just a few pence, to the top of these poles.

The worry is, how many more of these poles are there in a similar condition, perhaps with the corrosion below the pavement and just waiting to be pulled over by a young child?

There is potentially a very serious safety issue here and I would strongly recommend that someone from the highways department makes a rapid inspection of these poles before a serious injury occurs.

Anthony Anderman Crewe