PEOPLE living near Shoreham's Mill Hill bridge have launched a campaign to improve safety at the notorious suicide spot.
Tony Day, of Chanctonbury Drive, Shoreham, is organising a petition calling for existing safety rails to be replaced with a safety cage.
Several people have died after falling or jumping from the bridge in recent years.
Mr Day said something similar to the footbridge near Boundstone Community College, Lancing, would be ideal.
High sides"I'm thinking of the bridge at Lancing which has very high sides and a roof, so it's impossible to get out of," said Mr Day.
"Even though that was for different reasons, that's what we need here.
"An elderly lady came up here in the night with a Zimmer frame last year and even she managed to get over the guard rail."
Earlier this year, an inquest decided 29-year-old Robert Howard had committed suicide by jumping from Mill Hill bridge.
Mr Day said: "I came out and saw this young guy just lying down there on the side of the road with paramedics around him – he just looked so pitiful."
SamaritansAs well as speaking to the Herald and writing to the local authorities, Mr Day has spoken to the Samaritans about ways to offer help to vulnerable people who might consider jumping from the bridge.
He is planning to make posters to put on the bridge, giving the Samaritans number and offering support and advice.
Joining Mr Day in his campaign to make the bridge safer is Mary Adams.
In recent years, three of her friends have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge.
Investigations"One was a young girl of 25," said Mrs Adams.
"And there was one of my friends' sons and his mum.
"He jumped after being in a motorbike accident and then his mum jumped because she couldn't bear it."
In August, Linda Pope fell to her death from Mill Hill bridge.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is currently investigating the circumstances of the 39-year-old's death.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: "The agency is looking at the feasibility of an engineering solution at this stage.
"With regard to the Lancing bridge, that safety cage was put up to stop objects being thrown from the bridge rather than any other issues."
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