An important message from Jon Surtees, Head of Community at Surrey County Cricket Club: 

The roads around the Kia Oval have now been placed under an ATTRO (Anti Terrorism Traffic Regulation Order) on ‘Major Match Days’. This is as the result of a recommendation from the Metropolitan Police, following recent attacks in Germany, New Orleans, Vancouver and the incident last week in Liverpool.

The ATTRO will apply during the arrival and departure of fans from The Oval on Major Match Days (currently all International, Men’s T20 Blast and Hundred matches). It will last for up to two hours before the game and up to two hours after the game, although we will always work to ensure our crowds disperse as quickly as possible and therefore closures will be kept to a minimum.

During this time, the road between Oval Tube Station and the junction between Harleyford Road and Durham Street (by The Beehive pub) will be closed to all traffic, including cyclists. Vauxhall Street and Clayton Street will also become ‘Access Only’ during this period, accommodating all residents, visitors and deliveries, who will still be able to access all estate courtyards on the Kennington Park Estate.

There will also be full parking suspensions on Kennington Oval, and part of Clayton Street, as per previous years, and Windmill Row, which will become one way during these times, to facilitate bus diversions.

This will happen for the first time on Tuesday 3 June, with the first closure happening from 11am to 1pm and again at the end of the game. They will happen again for the first T20 Blast match of the summer on Thursday 5 June, between 5pm and 6.30pm and then again at the end of the match. Should the Test Match between England and India (31 July to 4 August) go to its full length, these closures will occur on 20 days total this summer. The full dates are listed on the Residents’ Newsletter, which can be downloaded below.

Whilst the closure is in place, the Control Room at The Oval will be in full operation, with the Surrey CCC Operations team working in close collaboration with representatives from the Met Police, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade. This will enable us to consider any requests for local residents who need to access the road for emergency reasons during these times. This will be assessed on a case by case basis and any vehicular access to the road will need to be closely supervised by police officers and stewards.

This ATTRO also means that the bus stops outside Kennington Park Community Centre/Rothesay Court and Archbishop Tenison’s School will be suspended and the buses that serve those routes placed on temporary diversions. Oval Tube station will continue to operate normally at all times.

We do apologise for the inevitable inconvenience that this will cause. This decision has been taken by the Metropolitan Police and Lambeth Council, after much consideration, to ensure public safety after a series of lethal attacks at different high-profile locations around the world. We have thought a great deal about how it will be implemented and will inevitably make mistakes that we will understand and correct going forward.

If you would like to contact us about this, please e-mail attro@surreycricket.com. If you have an urgent issue at any time, please contact our 24/7 Security Office on 0207 8205753.