West Sussex Council Leader Reveals Road Workers Face Threats, Including Shotgun Warning

Paul Marshall, the leader of West Sussex County Council, has disclosed instances of threats and abuse directed at workers undertaking road repairs. He stated that law enforcement was contacted following an incident where a resident threatened to retrieve a shotgun if engineers proceeded with closing a road to clear a fallen tree. In an interview with BBC Sussex, Mr. Marshall indicated that personnel now refrain from displaying council branding on their work attire to mitigate insults. He elaborated, “Our own highways engineers would normally go out in a big yellow jacket with West Sussex Highways on the back. They’ve started to remove that now they’re having abuse hurled and being sworn at and in some instances attempted to be knocked over by car wing mirrors.” Mr. Marshall commented on the situation, stating, “Contractors are working hard, sometimes in really difficult situations, trying to repair these roads.” He recounted a specific event: “We had an incident where there was a tree fallen down, we had to make an emergency closure of the road to get that tree made safe.” He confirmed that a person issued a threat to the road workers, saying, “They said ‘If you close that road I’ll go and get my shotgun’.” Mr. Marshall noted that the past three years have seen “significant weather impact” due to rainfall, and he acknowledged residents’ frustration regarding necessary road closures for pothole repairs. He reported that West Sussex County Council allocates a £50 million annual budget for highways and has committed an extra £50 million over the last year specifically for pothole repairs. Mr. Marshall was elected to West Sussex County Council in 2017 and has served as its leader since 2019. While Mr. Marshall stated he has not personally experienced such abuse, he confirmed awareness of elected councillor colleagues who have. He remarked, “These are primarily voluntary roles, they want to make a difference in the community. When they get this sort of abuse it becomes quite challenging for them.”