‘We expected this’

Ian Hutchinson in the garden of his home on The Close, Clayton West where a car went into the River Dearne in December last year from a recent housing development bordering the river where a footpath runs near to the river and a road ending is positioned, there is a deep drop into the river – up to three metres in places – into deep and fast flowing water.

“I was very concerned to see young children standing and playing at the edge of this steep drop. I was also concerned about the possibility that drivers of vehicles wouldn’t realise that they were at a dead-end and go straight on into the river.”

Mr Hutchinson said: “I contacted Kirklees Council, but they weren’t in the slightest bit interested.”

He said: “Eventually, Persimmon erected a flimsy little post and rail fence that children just step through.

“Bizarrely, they had erected far more solid fencing alongside the river in other locations and around the site generally where there isn’t any possibility of cars hitting it.

“My own feeling is that they had finished the site, didn’t want to spend any more money and basically couldn’t be bothered.”

Mr Hutchinson said that in December “the inevitable happened” and a car crashed through the fence and into the river. The The car which ended up in the River Dearne after crashing through a fence at housebuilder Persimmon’s Holly Road development in Scissett driver was manoeuvring the car when she hit a treacherous patch of black ice and couldn’t stop.

“We expected something like this to happen,” he said. “We suspect the driver had been trying to turn right but hit a patch of ice.

“Fortunately, on this occasion, no-one was seriously hurt,” he said.

“It took until the following day for a breakdown lorry to retrieve the car – after it had spent a day polluting the river with oil and petrol.”

Mr Hutchinson said he contacted ward councillor Clr Graham Turner and a couple of days later a council van arrived and repaired the gap in the fence “with exactly the same type of flimsy post and rail fencing”.

He said: “The most important thing is that because the fence is so flimsy kids just step through it and sit on the edge of the drop to the river.”

The Examiner has contacted Kirklees Council and Persimmon for comment but has yet to receive responses.