A Millbrook Business Park worker says the broken road where Sybron Way meets the B2100 nearly caused a crash on 27 October. His photos show the junction.
A man who works on Millbrook Business Park says the broken road surface where Sybron Way leaves the B2100 Rotherfield Road, between Crowborough and Rotherfield, nearly caused a crash on the morning of 27 October, and that he has been reporting it since March without any repair.
Ian Hampton, sales and business development manager at The Divine Water Company, drives over the junction “at least 4 times a day”. He has raised it with Nus Ghani, the MP for Sussex Weald, with Michael Barrett, whom he emailed at Reform UK’s Sussex Weald branch, and with highways officers. He sent us his emails and 14 photographs he took at the junction, 13 of them different, all shown below.
“I promised that when a serious accident happens, I will contact the local newspapers to explain that I’ve raised it numerous times and nothing was done,” he told us. “I’ve just thought that instead of waiting for an incident to happen, perhaps you would be interested in doing an article about it now?”
What happened on 27 October
Mr Hampton described the near miss in an email to Mr Barrett, copied to the MP, that afternoon:
“Because Sybron Way leads into Millbrook Business Park, there are loads of big heavy lorries turning in and this morning it was a huge lorry. It was travelling towards Rotherfield, turning left into Sybron Way when it braked really hard leaving half of the vehicle still on the main road. The car behind slammed on the brakes but veered out to avoid it into oncoming traffic and just missed a Range Rover coming the other way.”
He was a few cars back. “The car stopped just past the turning and I pulled up behind… The poor lady was physically shaking and in tears. I told her I’d seen what happened and she said he slammed on his brakes as he turned in and I agreed with her and explained why.”
His explanation is the road itself. “As you turn off Rotherfield Road into Sybron Way, you immediately see that the entire surface has completely disintegrated,” he wrote. “Because of this, motorists slam on the brakes worrying about what it might do to their suspension.”
2 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Ian Hampton
Coming from Crowborough is the risky direction
The danger, as he describes it, is for traffic heading towards Rotherfield and turning left. “If you’re travelling on the B2100 from Rotherfield towards Crowborough, there is a right-turn filter lane (ghost island) for vehicles turning into Sybron Way, so it’s not as dangerous,” he wrote.
He calls the B2100 “a very busy road” and says “over the years there have been a lot of accidents and tragically some fatalities” on it. The damage, he says, “is across both lanes and the entire junction”, and “the white lines disappeared many years ago too”.
3 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Ian Hampton
Reported, and turned down
He first raised it with the MP on 5 March, replying to her February newsletter: “I work on Millbrook Industrial Estate and the road surface where you turn off the main road is terrible. Cars are swerving dangerously into the other lane. Please can you feed it back for me?”
Ms Ghani replied the next day. “I do recognise that potholes are one of the biggest issues in my constituency at present,” she wrote. She said she had written to East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport at the time, Cllr Claire Dowling, “to share concerns about the state of local roads”, and had published her representations to the county council. She added: “I have made representations to the County Council’s Highways Director on your behalf to share the location you have raised and I will write to you again once I have received a response.”
Mr Hampton says his own reports to highways have been rejected “because it doesn’t meet the threshold for surfaces and potholes, which isn’t the main reason for reporting it”. His point is the braking and swerving at the turn, not the depth of any single hole.
4 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Ian Hampton
“Desperate need of resurfacing”
In his 27 October email he asked Mr Barrett to “raise this as an urgent safety hazard wherever you can”. He wrote: “I’d hope that someone looking at these which are off a major B road would surely realise that it’s in desperate need of resurfacing.”
He also counts the cost to drivers. “I drive over that surface at least 4 times a day and I’m sure it’s putting additional wear on my suspension and everyone else’s. I am so angry that I live in East Sussex which is officially the worst county in the UK for potholes, yet we pay the same, if not more for council tax and road tax.”
The woman in the car, he says, told him she would report the junction too.
3 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Ian Hampton
What is planned locally
East Sussex Highways’ planned maintenance list for 2026/27 names only one road under Crowborough, St Johns Road, as we reported in our look at the county’s £2.9m roads grant.
If you use the junction and have seen the same thing, tell us: the address is on our about page.
Have your say
Justin Redford 5 November 2026
I am absolutely overjoyed that this has finally come to light! Quite frankly, it is about time someone brought attention to this disgraceful situation. It is completely unacceptable, and something needs to be done about it immediately! How much longer are residents expected to put up with this nonsense? Absolutely shocking!
Dan Taylor 5 November 2026
This road surface is the bane of my life! The constant jolting and shaking is causing havoc with my spine and making every journey uncomfortable. Surely residents deserve better than this? Nus Ghani, please listen to the people who live here and do something about the appalling state of our roads. We need action, not excuses!