'It's dangerous to stand outside our front door'

A father whose house suffered damage estimated at £15,000 when it was hit by a lorry is calling for increased road safety measures to stop drivers mounting the pavement.

Andrew Bode, 61, who has lived near the junction of Ball Haye Green and Nelson Street in Leek for 17 years, said vehicles had mounted the pavement outside his home 150 times in just two months.

"We're now in a situation where our boys are probably safer crossing the road than they are standing on the pavement outside our front door," said Mr Bode.

Staffordshire County Council said it was "working hard to find a solution".

The council has installed CCTV and double-yellow lines, but Mr Bode - who lives on the only access road to a factory - wants bollards or a fence to better protect pedestrians and his home.

The 150 incidents have been captured on CCTV and Mr Bode said he had raised these with police.

"The police say they are stretched so they said they appreciate it, but are unlikely to take any action unless there is an actual incident," said Mr Bode.

"Highways have said they are not prepared to do anything other than double-yellow lines, because if they put up bollards or a fence it would likely only get hit or knocked down by vehicles trying to turn the corner.

"I said to them, 'surely that's the whole point of a bollard or a fence, that it gets knocked down rather than somebody or something'."

Mr Bode said it felt like nothing would get done unless somebody was hit.

"It's not as if it's an accident waiting to happen - it already has happened and the council will not do anything," he said.

Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet member for strategic highways, said: "We are aware of Mr Bode's concerns about vehicles mounting the pavement on Nelson Street and our highways teams are working hard to find a solution," he said.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and are actively looking at the possibility of further measures to improve the protection of Mr Bode's family home."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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