Traffic heroes of Guestling Hill, Hastings

One area , Guestling Hill, was proving particularly treacherous, with huge tailbacks in both directions. Various vehicles had skidded, bumped and lay abandoned. A bus became trapped and had to be rescued. A transit van had skidded and blocked the single lane that remained open. No police or emergency services attended.I was caught up in this chaos, as part of what is normally a two hour journey from Brighton to Kent. This journey turned into an eight hour ordeal. Twice I abandoned The Hill, as conditions were far too hazardous. However, one set of heroes stepped up to the mark, to attempt to manage the chaos. The residents of Guestling stepped up to manage the perilous stretch, establishing a traffic flow along the single lane that remained open, but barely passable. The stood for hours directing the traffic, advising motorists of the best driving techniques for managing the hill. It was because of their efforts, that myself, and all other road users , were able to navigate through in relative safety. Others residents took flasks of hot drinks to motorists.Finally, at about 8.30pm, a gritter lorry passed through, along one side of the road only.Whilst some of the core services of Hastings were lacking, in very difficult conditions, the local residents of Guestling Hill proved themselves the heroes of the moment, and without them I have no doubt that the consequences of these conditions would have been a lot more serious, even potentially fatal. They deserve a formal commendation for their actions, when no other help was made available.