Lorries 'damaging' buildings - campaigners

Boston's Guildhall and other historical buildings are on a busy road in the town centre

Vibrations from heavy goods vehicles in Boston are being blamed for damage to some of the town's historical buildings.

The Boston Preservation Trust said every large vehicle passing caused a "tremor" which "aggravated" the fragile nature of the buildings on South Street.

They want traffic to be restricted or for the area to be pedestrianised.

Lincolnshire County Council said people should share examples of the effect of traffic to local councillors to request changes.

A ceiling collapsed in a listed building close to the road

'An aggravating factor'

Martin Fairman, chairman of the Boston Preservation Trust, said traffic is a "massive nuisance" to the people who live and work on the road.

"My particular gripe was to do with [20-22 South Street] because of the damage being done to the ceiling which eventually fell down" he said.

"I'm not trying to claim that the traffic directly caused the ceiling to fall down but there doesn't seem to be any doubt that the regular shaking was an aggravating factor".

Martin Fairman is chair of the Boston Preservation Trust

Bob Webster from York Sills Structural Engineers, who surveyed some of the damage, said people are "very good" at sensing vibrations.

"We feel that they're quite dramatic. In reality, to actually physically shake a building sufficient to cause damage is quite an extreme event" he says.

Although his firm have not measured vibration levels at the building, Mr Webster said the rumbling traffic will not have helped the historical building.

"If you have a building which is already in a fragile condition, it's certainly not going to make it any better."

The exposed ceiling of 20-22 South Street had to be propped up after damage

Boston Preservation Trust said the "correct thing to do would be to stop the traffic" from passing listed buildings and pedestrianise the whole area.

A spokesperson for Historic England said they were not aware of traffic complaints but added: "We will always be prepared to investigate potential issues that affect the most treasured historic buildings.”

Lincolnshire County Council said "any information gathered by the local community about traffic flow or impact on a surrounding area is taken to the local county councillor.

"That is the best way to get this issue into the assessment and scrutiny process for the future.”

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