Having complained to Transport for London about the removal of guard rails on the Lower Mortlake Road between Richmond Circus and the Manor Road roundabout, this is the Kafkaesque reply I received. I fail to understand how removing guard rails (especially at a crossing where children cross every day, and cars often go through red lights at lightning speed) is 'safer'. All rail guards are being removed along the A316 and I suspect the real reason is to cut down maintenance costs.

'Thanks for your email of 14 February about the proposed removal of pedestrian guard rails (PGR) on Lower Mortlake Road.

I appreciate your concerns about our proposal to remove the PGR on Lower Mortlake Road close to the junction with Pagoda Avenue.

Pedestrian guard rail is being removed across our road network. This is part of a programme to create a better and healthier street environment through the decluttering of unnecessary street furniture.

While PGR can assist in guiding pedestrians to using a safer line for crossing, it does not act as a safety barrier between pedestrians and vehicles. PGR has been found to often reduce road user visibility. It can also encourage drivers to drive at higher speeds due to the false sense of a ‘safety barrier’ that PGR provides.

Another recent study, which looks at collision data before and after PGR removal at several junctions, suggests that removing PGR actually makes junctions safer for pedestrians. We will be publishing the results of this study soon.

I can assure you that the process for PGR removal is thorough and safe. Before any panels are considered for removal our engineers and members of our Road Safety team carefully walk each route as part of their assessment of each section of PGR.

If any panels are then proposed for removal, we pass this information onto interested stakeholders for their review and comments. After this we put notices up to notify the public of our intention to remove the PGR.

I'm sorry to hear your concerns about this proposal and I apologise that I couldn't provide you with a more favourable response.

Thanks again for contacting us. If there’s anything else we can help you with, please reply to this email or call us on 0343 222 1234 and we’ll be happy to help you.'

Article supplied by Marianne Malonne