Anger over breaches of weight limit on Bath railway bridge

[whole diary]

[Lee]

From the Bath Chronicle:

Anger over breaches of weight limit on bridge

Angry residents have expressed their frustration at lorry drivers who continually ignore the weight limit signs on a Bath railway bridge.

One incident last week saw a large vehicle crossing the bridge at Brook Road in East Twerton.

When the driver was questioned by resident Paul Hayes, he replied that he had simply been following his sat-nav.

Mr Hayes said there were breaches of the 7.5-tonne limit by HGVs at least once a day.

He said: "It is a regular event. The bridge is too narrow. Nobody will take responsibility for it."

Mr Hayes said the signs could be seen from the junction with Lower Bristol Road but were not as visible from the Windsor Bridge Road direction.

He said: "If you are waiting by the traffic lights on Windsor Bridge to go over the crossing you can't see the signs but you can from all other angles."

Mr Hayes said drivers often used their sat-navs as an excuse for disobeying the signs.

Councillor June Player (Ind, Westmoreland) said: "The road is way too narrow and there are cars parked on both sides. There are an awful lot of people walking up and down the bridge and lots of schoolchildren as well."

The lorry pictured by Mr Hayes is operated by Exeter firm Forrest Transport.

Manager Dylan Crowe said he would be investigating the latest incident to find out what had happened.

He said: "Our drivers often ring for directions into places and they get told a way to go.

"He made a call the day before to check directions and access to find the best way to get there and I don't know whether he followed his sat-nav.

"We will investigate it fully and get a full version of events as ignoring weight limits is not what we do.

"We will be looking into it and taking necessary action to make sure it doesn't happen again."