Man's plea after third car crashes into his garage

A man is calling for traffic calming measures to be installed on a road in Nottinghamshire after his garage was crashed into for a third time.

Andrew Brown said the structure in Main Street, Eastwood, had suffered "tens of thousands of pounds" of damage since the first crash on 25 December, Christmas Day, in 1999.

CCTV footage of the most recent incident on 19 January shows a car, travelling from Chewton Street, missing the bend and crashing into the 53-year-old's garage.

A Nottinghamshire County Council highways officer said the authority was looking for a location to install a temporary sign "to remind drivers of the speed limit and warn drivers of potential hazards".

Andrew Brown would like speed bumps or more chevron signs to be put in place

The first crash resulted in the driver "completely demolishing" the garage, Mr Brown said.

"The second time was on 1 June 2020, when a lady came straight through my garage at such force, that she knocked my own car out of the back and wrote it off," he added.

Of the most recent crash, Nottinghamshire Police said the driver initially left the scene but returned a short time later.

Officers said no offences were identified in relation to the crash, adding that the driver and Mr Brown had since exchanged insurance details.

Mr Brown's car was pushed through the back of his garage into his garden following a crash in 1999

"We seem to take the brunt of each accident," he said.

"I dread to think how much it will cost to fix the garage this time."

Lucy, who lives next to Mr Brown's garage, said her house was hit during the crash.

"The house was crashed into while my kids were in bed," said the mother of two.

"It was terrifying and it's the fear it could have been so much worse."

Lucy said she had previously looked out on to the road and watched cars "come down at such speed".

"I'm in fear all the time as I'm waiting for someone to come through the house," she added.

"I don't like my kids being in the front room on their own because I am constantly on edge that a car will lose control.

"I just want someone to take it seriously. Road bumps would help and I would feel safer with something other than a white line on the road."

Mr Brown has asked Via East Midlands, which provides highways services for Nottinghamshire County Council, to install either a barrier that protects his garage and pedestrians from potentially being hit by vehicles or measures to slow traffic.

He would like speed bumps or more chevron signs to be put in place.

"We want something to slow cars down coming on to our road," said Mr Brown.

He said he had made similar requests previously but was told there was "no data to back up having any speed measures down there".

The view from Mr Brown's garage shows the bend between Chewton Street and Main Street

A county council highways officer said the authority was "always concerned to hear about any collisions occurring on Nottinghamshire's roads".

As well as installing a temporary sign, the officer said the council was also considering additional road markings "to further highlight the bend to road users".

The spokesperson added: "We carefully consider where more significant measures, such as traffic calming, are needed within the county, and these are targeted to sites where there is the greatest evidence of an ongoing safety issue and where they can have the biggest impact on safety."