Brick up ‘gateway to hell’ Hastings Hill subway after fire

Sunderland Council bosses are being asked to urgently commit to bricking up a subway and replacing it with a safe pedestrian crossing instead, after it was hit with a huge arson attack yesterday leaving it looking like the ‘gateway to hell’.

The huge fire, which was started in the early hours of Monday 18 August has left lights melted and walls, floors and debris covered in thick ash, smoke damage and fire debris.

The Hastings Hill subway runs under the busy Chester Road (A183) dual carriageway and links the estates of Grindon and Pennywell. The underpass provides the only way for pedestrians to cross the busy arterial road to get to local supermarkets and the bus stop for services into the city centre.

Despite this, locals regularly take their life in their hands running across four lanes of speeding traffic in order to avoid going down into the subway which is a magnet for arson, crime and anti-social behaviour.

Sunderland Council have agreed to deep clean the fire damage, re-paint the subway and re-install lights in the coming weeks.

But local councillors say this isn’t good enough and are demanding the subway is bricked up and replaced with a ground-level pedestrian crossing instead.

Commenting after this week’s massive arson attack, local Lib Dem councillor for the area Stephen O’Brien said:

“This subway has been a total disgrace for years with Sunderland Council’s leadership always refusing to do anything about it.

“This massive arson attack has left it looking like a gateway to hell and must be the final straw. We are demanding that the Council urgently commits to installing a safe, ground-level pedestrian crossing.

“Local people shouldn’t have to feel scared to go down into the only way of getting across Chester Road to get to the shops or the bus stop. Every other subway along Chester Road has been closed off and replaced with a pedestrian crossing – why are Sunderland Council treating Grindon and Hastings Hill as second best and forcing people to take their life in their hands just to cross the road?”