Roads may be quieter, but the speed limit is the same – that’s the message from the county council’s road safety team.

With reduced traffic during the coronavirus outbreak, Sussex Police contacted the West Sussex Road Safety team to say some drivers had been tempted to drive too fast.

Roger Elkins, county council Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure, said: “As well as being against the law, speeding at any time involves unnecessary risks.

“During the coronavirus outbreak, emergency services and the NHS are facing immense pressure – being tempted to speed now risks additional strain on services if there’s an accident.

“We urge all road users to follow Government guidance during the outbreak and stay at home: only travel if absolutely necessary. But if you do have to travel, always drive, or ride, within the speed limit and at a speed appropriate to road conditions at the time.”

Anyone witnessing anti-social driving is asked to report it via: www.operationcrackdown.org

Truffles are coming to Poynings tomorrow at about 9am and will be at the playing field

Please ensure our vulnerable residents are made aware and let them be first…

Only take what you need, this isn’t a stockpiling opportunity, and keep you distance from each other.

If it works it will become a regular visit, so help them support us.

Listen for an ice cream jingle. Scroll down for more info.

Our routes tomorrow:
Route 1
Ashurst village hall -9am
Wiston-old post office 9.45am
Washington-village hall 10.30am
Sullington village car park 11.15am
Thakeham village hall 12pm
Pulborough outside florists 12.30pm
Southwater woodlands way off college road 1pm
Cowfold park car park 1.45

Route 2
Poynings playing field 9am
Shoreham Long shore pub 9.45
Lancing miller and carter 10.15
Sompting Howard road 10.30 and whippet car park 10.45
High salvington shop 11.30
Angmering community Center car park -12.15

Route 3
West end lane Henfield 9am
Court bushes car park 9.30
Alborne school 10am
Keymer grey hound pub 11.30
Lindfield park car park 12
Spring hills Henfield 12.45

Please note these are guide times, we will play a jingle that sounds like an ice cream truck.

Social distancing is a must. If not compliant this may result in you not being served.

Try and pay by card payment.

If you are vulnerable or ill then please do not come out. Instead please get in touch for non contact delivery.

These routes may change daily, we will update you all how we get on. Please be kind as this is our first day and trying to help the local community. Thank you.

Mid Sussex District Council is suspending parking charges in its car parks from Monday 30 March until further notice due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The move follows an announcement by West Sussex County Council on Thursday that social care and NHS workers can now park free-of-charge in West Sussex County Council on street spaces.

Regular parking patrols will continue to ensure public safety and the free movement of traffic, especially for the emergency services, carers and deliveries. People are strongly advised to be mindful of this and not to park on yellow lines, loading bays and clearways.

Councillor Stephen Hillier, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth said: “We are suspending parking charges in Mid Sussex District Council car parks to help our residents park safely, support key workers and avoid road congestion during the Covid-19 situation.

“These are difficult times for everyone but particularly for those who live in areas with limited space to park. Key workers who return home at night after work are struggling to find free spaces and we want to do all we can to support them.

“Civil Enforcement Officers will continue to patrol the streets but their focus will very much be on enforcing yellow lines and loading bays so that essential vehicles can still travel freely on the network and not have to contend with dangerously parked cars.”

As a country, we all need to do what we can to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

That is why the government has given clear guidance on self-isolation, staying at home and away from others, and asked that schools only remain open for those children who absolutely need to attend.

On 23 March the government stepped up measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus and save lives. All businesses and venues outlined in the table below must now close.

Takeaway and delivery services may remain open and operational in line with guidance below. Online retail is still open and encouraged and postal and delivery service will run as normal.

Employers who have people in their offices or onsite should ensure that employees are able to follow Public Health England guidelines including, where possible, maintaining a 2 metre distance from others, and washing their hands with soap and water often, for at least 20 seconds (or using hand sanitiser gel if soap and water is not available).

Parks will remain open but only for individuals and households to exercise once a day. Communal spaces within parks such as playgrounds and football pitches will be closed.

1. Businesses and venues that must remain closed

To reduce social contact, the government has ordered the following businesses and venues to close:

These businesses and venues must close as they involve prolonged close social contact, which increases the chance of infection spreading.

Providers of funeral services such as funeral directors and funeral homes may remain open, subject to Public Health England guidelines as mentioned in the table above.

2. Work carried out in people’s homes

Work carried out in people’s homes, for example by tradespeople carrying out repairs and maintenance, can continue, provided that the tradesperson is well and has no symptoms.

Again, it will be important to ensure that Public Health England guidelines, including maintaining a two-metre distance from any household occupants, are followed to ensure everyone’s safety.

No work should be carried out in any household which is isolating or where an individual is being shielded, unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the safety of the household, such as emergency plumbing or repairs, and where the tradesperson is willing to do so. In such cases, Public Health England can provide advice to tradespeople and households.

No work should be carried out by a tradesperson who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild.

For more information, see guidance published 23 March 2020.

3. Takeaway and delivery facilities should remain open and operational.

This means people can continue to enter premises to access takeaway services, including delivery drivers.

Businesses are encouraged to take orders online or by telephone, and businesses should not provide seating areas, indoors and outdoors, for customers to consume food and drink on. Ordering in advance is strongly encouraged to avoid waiting in, as per Public Health England guidelines.

Planning regulation has been changed to enable restaurants, cafés and pubs which do not currently offer delivery and hot food takeaway to do so. The legislation can be accessed online.

People must not consume food or drinks on site at restaurants, cafés or pubs whilst waiting for takeaway food.

Those venues offering takeaway or delivery services must not include alcoholic beverages in this list if their licence does not already permit.

4. Length of closure

We are asking the businesses and venues outlined above not to open for trade from close of trade 23 March 2020.

The first point of review for these measures will be in three weeks. This review will consider their necessity and effectiveness in light of changing circumstances.

5. Compliance

Everyone is instructed to comply with the rules issued by the government in relation to coronavirus, in order to protect both themselves and others.

As of 1pm on 26 March 2020 new Regulations extending the restrictions are now enforceable by law in England due to the threat to public health. These supersede Regulations that came into force at 2pm on 21 March 2020. They are enforceable in Wales from 4pm on 26 March 2020 and Scotland from 7.15pm on 26 March 2020.

Where an owner, proprietor or manager carrying out a business (or a person responsible for other premises) contravenes the Regulations, that person commits an offence.

In England, Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor compliance with these regulations, with police support provided if appropriate. Businesses and venues that breach them will be subject to prohibition notices, and fixed penalties. With the support of the police, prohibition notices can be used to require compliance with the Regulations including requiring that an activity ceases.

If prohibition notices are not followed, or fixed penalty notice not paid, you may also be taken to court with magistrates able to impose potentially unlimited fines.

6. Financial support

Her Majesty’s Treasury also announced on 20 March 2020 a comprehensive series of measures supporting wages, cash-flow for businesses, and the welfare system.

7. Business support

In England, under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant (RHLG) announced on 16 March 2020, businesses and venues in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will be eligible for cash grants of up to £25,000 per property.

Eligible businesses and venues in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up to £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000. Eligible businesses and venues in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000. Businesses and venues with a rateable value of over £51,000 are not included in this scheme.

For more information please visit the government’s business support page.

8. Business rates

In England, as announced on 16 March 2020, the government will provide a business rates holiday for businesses and venues in the retail, hospitality and/or leisure sector. This includes the businesses and venues in scope for closure listed above. This will apply automatically to your next business rates bill in April 2020.

9. Further information

This guidance will be updated regularly as the situation develops. For information about support for business, please go to the government’s Business Support page or visit GOV.UK.

Devolved Administrations may issue further guidance on these matters within their nations.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance

From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Forestry Commission, Environment Agency, and Natural England

People walking through green space.

The government’s priority is to save lives and the best way to protect yourself and others from illness is to stay at home.

However, exercise is still important for people’s physical and mental wellbeing, so the government has said people can leave their homes for exercise once a day.

Please use the following guidance in order to stay safe:

• stay local and use open spaces near to your home where possible – do not travel unnecessarily
• you should only go outside alone or with members of your own household
• keep at least 2 metres apart from anyone outside your household at all times
• gatherings of more than two in parks or other public spaces have been banned and the police will enforce this
• if you have a garden, make use of the space for exercise and fresh air
• take hygiene precautions when you are outside, and wash your hands as soon as you are back indoors

Please see the latest government guidance on social distancing.

Please be aware that if you are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19) or at risk of severe illness if you catch coronavirus, then you must stay at home. See the latest guidance from Public Health England.

Social care and NHS workers can now park free-of-charge in West Sussex County Council on-street spaces during the coronavirus outbreak.

It follows a central Government announcement that local councils in England should provide free parking in on-street parking bays and council-owned car parks for both groups of key workers.

Roger Elkins, Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure, said: “Social care and NHS workers are doing a vital job, supporting the most vulnerable in our community during the coronavirus outbreak. It is only right to take away the worry of time restriction and cost as these two groups of key workers try to park safely, as close to their workplace as possible.”

Social care and NHS workers will be encouraged to display supporting evidence in their windscreens, such as photocopies of their work pass with sensitive information removed, or a letter of evidence from their employer. 

Local councils are also being encouraged to waive any fines incurred by health and social care staff while carrying out their duties in recent days. The staff are encouraged to appeal any fines, with supporting evidence of their work.

Firefighters in West Sussex are reminding residents to take extra care with candles following a fire in a teenager’s bedroom on Tuesday.

Two crews from Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath were mobilised to a property on West Street, Burgess Hill,
at 12.52pm after candles on the teenager’s bedroom window set fire to the curtains.

Upon arrival at the house, crews found the fire had already been extinguished by an adult living at the property, but crews offered some safety advice to the household and helped ventilate the property.

Ed Swain, Crew Manager at Burgess Hill Fire Station, said: “Luckily there was an adult in the property at the time when the fire broke out and he managed to deal with the fire himself upon hearing the smoke alarms actuating.

“With the latest advice from the government to help curb the spread of Covid-19, people should be staying at home and observing social distancing guidance.

“We would like to take this opportunity to remind people of the dangers associated with naked flames and candles and the importance of keeping them away from flammable materials. They should only be used in a proper candle holder, and they should be extinguished before you leave the room or go to sleep. Candles should never be left unattended.

“By following these simple steps you can enjoy having a candle lit, without putting the household at risk of fire.

“In this instance, it didn’t take much for the curtains to catch fire, and this had the potential to become a much more serious incident. There was a fair bit of heat damage to the curtains and the teenager’s bed, as well as smoke damage to the rest of the room.

“Fortunately this house also had a working smoke alarm fitted, which gave the family an early warning that something was wrong.”

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (WSFRS) have issued some home fire safety tips with more people working and being in the home due to coronavirus (Covid-19).

Advice includes:

Smoke alarms should be on every level of the home. Check they’re working regularly.

Avoid smoking in comfortable furniture or beds #DontSnoozeAndSmoke

Fires in chimneys can start at any time. Take this time to clean yours.

Electrical items should be checked, don’t overload plug sockets.

Try and be more careful in the kitchen. 50% of home fires start here.

You should close your doors at night in case a fire breaks out. This will help to contain the fire and prevent the spread of toxic smoke by up to 20 minutes.

Nicki Peddle, Head of Prevention at WSFRS said: “In these uncertain and difficult times we really want you to be as safe as possible at home. That is why we are offering some extra tips to help keep you and those you care for safe from fire.

“They are really simple things that we build in to our new routines, but they will have a big impact on reducing the risk of  a fire in our home.”

If you have a fire in your home – get out, stay out, call 999.

For more information on home fire safety visit: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/fire-emergencies-and-crime/west-sussex-fire-and-rescue-service/home-fire-safety/