Tractor collision sparks villagers’ anger

Villagers have expressed their anger after a tractor collided with a home.

Tractors are being driven down the B2146 ‘at least once a minute’ according to one resident – a rate which has been the cause of much anger to Funtington residents over the years.

The ‘final straw’ came last Thursday when two tractors collided, sending one crashing into the front of a home.

Anthony Wharton, said he and his wife were ‘shocked’ and ‘shaken’ when the tractor smashed into their dining room wall.

“We heard a horrendous crash and we immediately thought ‘oh, that’s a bad one’,” he said.

Having had guests over for dinner the night before, Anthony said it could have been a ‘different story altogether’.

“It doesn’t bear thinking about,” said driving instructor Anthony.

“If anyone had been walking outside our house at that time I’m pretty sure that they would have been killed outright.

“It’s a constant problem. The amount of tractors that come through here is just phenomenal some times.

“It’s at least a tractor a minute – it’s unbelievable. Some sort of traffic calming measures should be involved.

“There is a lot of vitriol in this village towards the farming community here because of the danger of the tractors.

“There’s an awful lot of anger and it all came to head. There must have been 30 people outside the house at one point.”

Anthony described scenes as villagers shouted and argued with tractor drivers following the collision.

“It was the final straw for the villagers and they were directing it at the farming community,” he said.

“The residents would love to do something about the danger from the tractors.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Police were called around 8.25pm on Thursday (August 19) following reports of a tractor colliding with the front of a house in Funtington.

“The area was cordoned off while the property was made safe. No injuries were reported.”