Bollards to protect Canterbury to be switched on

A system of more than 100 bollards preventing vehicles entering Canterbury city centre will come into force on 26 October.

Canterbury City Council has installed the security bollards on the advice of counter terrorism police to help protect the city and the people in it from the threat of a vehicle-based terror attack.

The move means that the overwhelming majority of drivers will be permanently refused access to city centre streets.

Colin Carmichael, chief executive of Canterbury City Council, said: “There is no specific intelligence that says Canterbury is at immediate risk but we need to take sensible precautions, on expert police advice, to ensure we keep everyone as safe as possible.

“While this scheme will be publicised extensively in the run up to going live, drivers need to plan ahead in case there is traffic disruption at peak hours as people learn how the system will operate and that the restrictions will be enforced rigorously.

“This has been a very complex project with all sorts of considerations so there is always a very small chance it will not operate perfectly on day one. We will keep an incredibly close eye on things so we can make any tweaks that are needed quickly and efficiently.”