Petition over road where lorry crashed into garden

Villagers have called for action over a stretch of road where a lorry crashed into a garden.

They have started a petition calling for a change in the speed limit on Fen Road, near Washingborough, amid concerns that some motorists are not driving to the conditions of the rural road.

Carol Scholfield said a lorry demolished the wall of her garden last year and "could have easily killed somebody" – though there is no suggestion that speed was a factor in the accident.

Lincolnshire County Council said it had previously examined a request to reduce the speed limit, but it did not meet the "requirements for change".

More than 100 people have signed the petition, which calls for the speed limit to be reduced from 60mph to 40mph.

Residents have argued that the change would lead to drivers accelerating at a gentler pace when leaving the village.

Mrs Scholfield said drivers regularly "come out of the village and put their foot down" without accounting for the number of houses along the road.

"I don't allow my grandchildren to play out on the grass in my garden because it's too worrying," she added.

Ossey Rhule (left) and fellow equestrian enthusiasts are concerned about the speed of the road outside his paddock

Ossey Rhule, who started the petition, owns a horse paddock across the road from the site of the crash.

He said he was particularly concerned for horse-riders and people driving horse-drawn wagons.

"If a horse spooked and went into a vehicle, it'd kill us, kill the horse and whoever's in the car, so we really just want to see if we can get the speed limit down," he said.

Some drivers were "absolutely flying" he added. "It's 60mph, which is absolutely silly."

Luca Straker, campaign manager at the road safety charity Brake, said that while many rural roads were set to the 60mph national speed limit, people should drive to the conditions.

"Rural roads are also the roads that have the most crashes on them, so they're seen as the least safe. That's why it's really important we drive to the road conditions not to the speed limit itself," they added.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire County Council said the authority had assessed a change in the speed limit last year.

However, the assessment concluded that "the accident rate and traffic flow on this stretch of road doesn't meet the requirements for change, so we can't consider a new limit here".

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