Yapton is one of the most misused crossings in the south-east, with drivers regularly either ignoring or trying to beat the red lights, queuing over the crossing or swerving around the barriers as trains approach.

Red light enforcement cameras were installed in 2017 in partnership with British Transport Police, resulting in hundreds of motorists being prosecuted for dangerous driving. However, an average of 3.7 incidents still occur each day – meaning we’ve brought forward the crossing upgrade, which would have been required by 2025 because of local population and traffic growth.

The vital improvements at the crossing, which is used by 8,000 vehicles and 300 trains every weekday, will also allow us to remove a six-year-long speed restriction, imposed at Yapton for safety reasons, and allow trains to run at full speed again, improving punctuality and reducing delays.

To allow us to complete this work, our engineers will need to close the crossing on Sunday, 18 November, and for 10 days in January 2019.