A row has broken out in a quiet village after attendees at a popular car boot sale were accused of bringing “gridlock” chaos to a tiny corner of Essex.
Residents in Sandon, near Chelmsford, have expressed their concerns about Capital Car Boot Sales holding events at the Sandon Park & Ride every Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
In photos obtained by GB News, cars were shown parked dangerously on the corner of the main roundabout of Junction 18 for the A12, with rubbish strewn across its hedgerows.
Sandon, which only has a population of around 1,500, is now fighting back against Essex Police, Essex County Council and Chelmsford City Council to restore order to the otherwise quiet village.
Residents have flooded the police and both councils with complaints about the situation and even accused the authorities of “passing the blame” amongst themselves.
Speaking to GB News, one disgruntled resident said: “It has been carnage every single Sunday. I can’t believe the audacity of senior management to suggest there hasn’t been problems over the past few years.
Cars were parked all along Maldon Road
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Cars were also spotted parked along Hammonds Road
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“They had to put more signage up because hundreds of drivers – who have been travelling from as far away as Ilford and Dagenham – get lost and end up trying to find car boot sales down country roads.
“Last Sunday really was the final straw. The beeping was going on for ages, traffic reduced Sandon to a standstill, litter was left all over the slip road and the parking situation will one day lead to some very serious accidents.
“Is that seriously what we have to wait for before anyone decides to do anything about it? We are being ignored and it’s only going to get worse.”
The resident added: “The fact that we already have this problem and they want to build thousands of new homes – with the Hammonds Farm development, and create industrial estates, at the Pigeon development, without improving the A12 and Junction 18 is nothing short of a p**stake.”
Local residents have taken to Sandon and Danbury’s social media pages to detail just how chaotic last Sunday’s car boot sale was.
“The parking on Brick Kiln virtually made it a one way street,” a resident wrote.
A number of locals also described being shouted at by “impatient” and even “aggressive” attendees.
In a live chat exchange with Essex Police, one individual complained about being called a “w****r” after taking photos of the cars clogging up Maldon Road.
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Screenshots of a conversation between a resident and Essex Police’s chat function
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Explaining just how long the situation has been going on for, another resident claimed: “It’s like this every Sunday morning and it queues back both ways on the A12 and about half a mile coming from Danbury.”
“It causes absolute carnage,” another wrote. “It gridlocks the roundabouts and massively backs up the traffic into Danbury.”
An elderly resident even said that the traffic meant she was late to a recent hospital appointment.
A fourth local suggested residents should launch a petition to voice their concerns, adding: “I couldn’t believe how people were parked; it’s just so dangerous.”
There are growing concerns that the authorities will only act once the village witnesses a major accident.
However, a local resident claimed they had already seen “at least six cars go around the roundabout the wrong way just to get to the A12 slip road”.
“The roundabout definitely needs traffic marshals,” they said. “My space was halved this weekend due to the volume of sellers. I arrived at Junction 18 at 7.20am to arrive at the last row at 8.15am.”
And it is not just the traffic on Sundays that residents have been complaining about.
“I drove up the slip road from the A12 northbound this morning,” one local said. “Rubbish was left everywhere in the hedgerows; it looks awful.”
GB News has seen a number of exchanges between Sandon residents, police and local authorities about the problems blighting the parish.
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People going to the car boot sale have been parking dangerously on the nearby roundabout
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Traffic was so bad that one motorist left his vehicle
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One person sparked fury after appearing to dismiss the concerns, writing: “You lot need something better to do.”
Responding to the comment, Sandon Parish Councillor Mandy Hessing replied: “It’s dangerous. This goes back to 2017, and it was a problem then, not sure parking on the slip road is the brightest idea but then you can’t teach stupid.”
Even an attendee at the car boot sale admitted more needed to be done to ensure the roads around the Sandon Park & Ride remain safe.
In an email exchange with one resident, Chelmsford City Councillor Julia Jeapes said: “[We] are not able to act as there are no relevant traffic restrictions that they are legally able to enforce.”
The Tory Councillor for the Little Baddow Danbury & Sandon, who previously served as Chief Superintendent and Divisional Commander at Chelmsford before retiring in 2005, added: “As you assumed, it really was a police matter as the only agency with the power to enforce the legislation that would apply.”
However, Essex Police rejected the suggestion that the matter is something that it should send officers to deal with.
Responding to complaints from one local, a member of the force’s live chat team wrote: “This is not something we attend, we don’t have the resources.”
After being informed about swear words being hurled at the resident, the staff member added: “We wouldn’t send officers for that.”
Despite the resident being told officers would not respond to the incident, a spokesman from Essex Police confirmed a traffic unit drove through the area and did not identify any offences on March 9.
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Residents have taken to parking dangerously off a nearby roundabout
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Some of the rubbish left on the side of the road
Submitted
The spokesman told GB News: “We regularly work with our partners to resolve local issues but we are not involved in the running or management of the Sandon car boot sale. On Sunday, March 9, officers did attend the location but no offences were identified.
“We are liaising with our partners at Chelmsford City Council and Essex County Council to advise the organisers of the car boot sale on the management of their event. Should further issues be reported to ourselves or our local authority partners these will be addressed by the most appropriate organisation.”
Despite seeing police cars drive through the area, one resident voiced their dismay at the lack of action.
“I have seen three police cars drive past in the last half an hour – none of them stopped,” they said.
GB News also understands that local residents have approached Maldon MP Sir John Whittingdale, Essex County Council and Chelmsford City Council to express their concerns.
Replying to Parish Councillor Hessing, Essex County Councillor John Spence said: “It’s when the weather is nice that the traffic is most crazy. It is also sad how many issues are caused by people being inconsiderate to each other.”
In an exchange with Whittingdale, Essex County Council’s chief executive Gavin Jones also reportedly claimed: “Officers have advised that the traffic conditions around the Park and Ride site are constantly under review.
“The boot sale has now been running every week (weather dependent) for two years with very few issues.
“I understand that the operator of the boot sale changes running patterns and times, if necessary, depending on the surrounding circumstances to mitigate the traffic flow.”
After being approached for comment by the People’s Channel, an Essex County Council spokesman added: “The boot sale has been running every Sunday and bank holiday for the last three years and is well supported.
“We work closely with the organisers on traffic management and continuous improvements. This includes working with local organisations on signage near the site to deter parking on the verges.”
GB News has also approached Chelmsford City Council and Capital Car Boot Sales for comment.