Pensioner is fined for painting zebra crossing on a busy road so his disabled wife could cross

A pensioner who painted a zebra crossing on a busy road so his disabled wife could cross safely has been fined £130 by police.

Laurie Phillips was investigated by officers and issued with a community resolution order after taking matters into his own hands following repeated requests to the local council going unanswered.

The 78-year-old has been his wife’s primary carer for 20 years and over that time has "learned the difficulties of disability."

The couple convinced the council to install drop kerbs in 2016 for her buggy to be able to cross the road but have had no such luck with the zebra crossing.

So the retired psychotherapist got up at 5am and spent several hours painting six white rectangular blocks on the road surface with two others to form a zebra crossing.

Laurie Phillips CREDIT: LauriePhillips/BNPS/BNPS

The crossing remained there for four days and Mr Phillips told The Telegraph that "it worked perfectly."

"It slowed the traffic down and people were able to cross the road. "At the time many locals thanked me for doing it."

Mr Phillips described the police investigation as "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut," saying it had caused him and his wife "unnecessary stress."

The busy road approaches Mudeford Quay in Christchurch, Dorset, and sometimes sees as many as 5,000 cars a day.

Mr Phillips said he "gave clear warning" to the BCP Council that he would paint the crossing himself if nothing was done.

He added: "I personally paid over £100 for materials and three of us took two hours each to paint it.

"One might think a contribution to the wellbeing of those I live near and all the visitors who come here would be welcomed by a cash strapped council?” A BCP Council spokesperson said: "As with other requests for crossings we receive, we will carefully assess the request to establish whether it is appropriate to create a formal or informal crossing at this location.

"Safety remains, as ever, our primary concern."

Mr Phillips added: "They can say what they like but when they actually turn up and paint a crossing between the two drop kerbs, they’ll have demonstrated that they actually mean what they say.

"But I think it could be years before they do it."