Kentish Express Ashford & District
Calls for better signs after lost lorry drivers damage vehicles
Truckers trying to find Inland Border Facility end up in residential street
Frustrated neighbours are calling for better signs to be put up after several cars were damaged by lorries getting stuck down their residential street.
Truckers have been straying down Fairview Drive in South Willesborough and causing significant damage as they try to turn around in the narrow lanes.
The problem has become so bad that one resident says she is even considering moving because of it.
Recently, a Peugeot van was almost written off when a HGV driver became stuck at the roundabout near Riverbank Way.
Neighbours gathered on their doorsteps to try and help the distressed trucker turn around and make his way back towards the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road.
A Dacia Logan MCV belonging to Jesus Jimenez, 45, and Ramona Birovescu, 40, was also damaged before Christmas when another driver became lost.
“Our car has been fixed now but it’s something we think about every day,” Ms Birovescu said.
“When is it going to happen again?
“Around six families have told us it has happened to them too.”
There are signs at the end of Monument Way discouraging lorry drivers from taking the route however residents say they are not clear enough as they are often hidden by trees.
Ms Birovescu added: “How do you expect people driving big lorries to see the signs if we can’t see them?
“As they come round the bend they can see they shouldn’t be here but by then it’s too late.
“It’s not the driver’s fault, you can see they don’t feel good when they get stuck down here.”
One resident who has lived on the street for nine years says the lorries are becoming such a problem that she often parks her car further away to avoid it being damaged.
She added: “It was never a problem before the new facility opened in Sevington.
“They start coming about 9.30pm to 10pm almost every night, we can’t live with this.
“Every time it happens I report it to the council but nobody ever gets back to me.
“Some people get angry at the drivers but it’s not their fault.
“One of my neighbour’s brandnew car was dragged along the road one time and the driver had no idea.”