A grateful Southampton resident applauded the placement of a new and improved safety barrier on Southampton’s Tribe Road No 1.

“I think the people who live around here are going to be happy with it,” Camp Hill resident Sidney Simmons told The Royal Gazette. “They’re lower, you can’t slide under them, they look nice.”

Mr Simmons had campaigned decades ago to have a barrier placed at the base of the pedestrian road after a motorcyclist nearly knocked down his elderly mother.

But the 79-year-old almost suffered the same fate after the bars were removed by Public Works 19 days ago, in response to safety concerns but allowing riders to once again cut down the hill.

In January, ten-year-old Tiffanelle Pitcher-Francis, who was new to the neighbourhood, had been cycling with friends down the steep incline near dark.

She was killed instantly when she struck one of the horizontal bars. According to her family, a helmet would not have saved her — and grandfather David Madeiros was concerned by other children attempting to duck under the bar while cycling through.

The replacement barrier has additional horizontal bars to prevent children from being able to cycle beneath the top bar. The barrier will also keep out motorcycles, Mr Simmons said, and has white stripes to make it more visible.