‘Someone will get hurt if nothing is done to stop this’

A business owner has warned somebody could be hurt if nothing is done to stop large vehicles using a narrow road in Sudbury, after his property was smashed into by a lorry.

In the early hours of Friday morning a lorry crashed into a property on the corner of Station Road and Friars Street, leaving the building damaged, a signpost torn from the pavement and the shop owner left with a substantially lighter wallet.

Unless the driver of the vehicle is found Jeremy Clayton will have to foot the bill for the damage to the building, which he is renovating to expand his network of Javelin clothing stores in Friars Street.

A tenant in one of the flats above the shop was woken at 3.30am to the building being shaken as a lorry smashed into its side.

Mr Clayton warned that unless the authorities stopped lorries and heavy goods vehicles from using the road, there would be an even more serious accident in future, with the potential for somebody to be seriously hurt.

“I don’t think there’s a weight restriction. They need to stop these large vehicles coming round this corner. It’s only a matter of time before something even more serious happens.”

The post that usually sits in the pedestrian pathway was completely ripped out during the collision, which Mr Clayton said showed the danger of heavy good vehicles trying to go around the bend.

He said lorries frequently got into trouble trying to take the sharp corner, forcing cars to reverse away from the junction and pedestrians to have to clear the footpaths, in turn causing long traffic hold ups.

“There’s been some very close calls,” said Rob Cumbris, a contractor for Mr Clayton. “It happens at least once a week.”

He added the lorries were often following their satellite navigation devices and said there needed to be signage to instruct drivers not to use the road as a short cut but instead to stick to the main road.

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said the incident would be investigated and repairs would be ordered for the bollard site.

He added: “An ‘unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles’ sign is present at the junction of Meadow Lane and Station which will deter these vehicles travelling towards Friar Street.

“Similar advisory signs could be an option at the other end although locations for such signs is very limited due to the restricted space on the footway and may be intrusive in a conservation area.”