Anyone who uses Tollington Road in Holloway may have noticed a man standing on the pavement every night with a sign saying “SLOW DOWN”.

Islington Gazette: Morgan Penn with his sign anda 29 bus in the background.Morgan Penn with his sign anda 29 bus in the background. (Image: Archant)

His name is Morgan Penn, and he is on a mission to make bus drivers take note of his warning because he is sick of seeing near misses on the stretch of the road he lives on.

“I’ve had some funny reactions from bus drivers,” he told the Gazette. “Half of them flash their lights and do slow down, but some pretend they haven’t seen this enormous sign.

“I think word has got out that there’s some nut job in Tollington Road. One stopped and called me: ‘bloody mentally deficient’. He said he was driving slowly, but he wasn’t. Some of them actually speed up.

“That stretch of the road is so straight it’s like a race track. But I live on it and I keep seeing near misses, every day – especially children with their hoods up who cross that junction.

Islington Gazette: Morgan Penn with his sign and the flowers, which he put up to stop bus drivers speeding.Morgan Penn with his sign and the flowers, which he put up to stop bus drivers speeding. (Image: Archant)

“I’ve seen them having to slam their breaks on because people are crossing across four lanes of traffic. I’m doing it out of desperation. I’m going out every night until they take notice.”

Morgan has put up flowers on a lamppost with a sign saying “buses please slow down”. He stands 100 yards further down the road to see if they take notice. His overall goal is to have the speed limit on that stretch of the road at least reduced to 20mph, in line with all of Islington Council’s roads.

“I moved here in December so I feel like I’ve got fresh eyes on this. I feel like saying: ‘Has no one else noticed?’.

“I’ve emailed Jeremy Corbyn about it and he’s passed my concerns onto the council, but the road is managed by TfL and isn’t covered by Islington’s 20mph limit.”

Morgan has now asked TfL, which is running a “vision zero” safety scheme to end deaths on the roads, to come and witness the situation for themselves.

He said: “This part of the road is a rat run and speedway track for the buses, and their driving here appears very reckless and cavalier.

“I don’t want to witness something and be the person running out of the house. I’m just trying to draw attention to it. And I’m doing this every night until it gets sorted out.

“I haven’t got the middle finger yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”