AN estimated £20,000 will be needed to repair an ntl cabinet in Andover's Apple Tree Grove - damaged when a car failed to negotiate the bend correctly and hit it.

"We have been waiting for something like this to happen," said Apple Tree Grove resident Cara Pierce.

She sent a 40-signature petition to Test Valley Borough Council a year ago demanding traffic calming measures.

The problems began in spring 2003 when the council installed a pedestrian island at the junction of Apple Tree Grove and Tollgate Road for schoolchildren to use.

Another resident who lives on the corner of Tollgate Road and May Tree Road said that if authorities had consulted residents beforehand, they would have known that children going to and from school crossed further down, opposite the shops in Shakespeare Avenue.

Busty Taylor, an Andover driving instructor, who lives on Apple Tree Grove said the white road marking in the middle of The Drove before entering Tollgate Road confused people because they made the road look straight.

"If people are going fast they find out too late that in fact there's a sharp bend in the road," he explained.

He believes what's needed is a barrier around the curve with chevron signs to warn strangers of the curve.

Former Test Valley Mayor, Cllr Pat West meanwhile is organising an onsite meeting with the police and highways authority with a view to getting better signage and to discuss the possibility of a barrier.