Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Call for action as lorry blocks town street for hours
Trucks constantly trapped on narrow road
A 44-ton lorry was stuck in the centre of Fordwich for more than three hours - damaging a historic bridge and pub.
The hefty truck squeezed its way into the middle of the town - the smallest in the UK - before struggling to make its way through King Street and High Street last Monday.
It was wedged in at a corner along the route from about 5.15pm, and held up traffic heading to and from Sturry until about 8.45pm.
Town council chairman Philip Lewis says he and others had to turn dozens of motorists away from the tiny town as the bungling haulier blocked the way.
“We turned around vast numbers going both ways,” he recalled.
“He went across a bridge he shouldn’t have done, he was holding up traffic, he damaged an ancient structure – he should have been apprehended.”
The town council boss says the huge lorry knocked stones from the bridge, which dates back to 1795, on the approach to the town and also damaged the guttering at the George and Dragon pub.
Police were called to the scene just before 8.15pm, but did not attend the incident after being told the driver managed to free the vehicle half-an-hour later.
There are signs at the town’s entrance banning vehicles wider than two metres, but Cllr Lewis says drivers ignoring them create gridlock in the area as many as three times a month.
“We have a vast number of lorries every day going across the bridge that are too big,” he said.
“Ninety percent of them go through without any problem at all. But I go down once, twice or three times a month to try and assist in getting coaches or large lorries that have got stuck get out.
“Fordwich was designed for horse and carts and pedestrians – it was not designed for cars. We are every day abusing it.
“It takes over 4,000 cars a day – that’s not the way the road was designed, nor the bridge. It’s the unofficial eastern bypass in Canterbury, but it’s not fit for purpose.”
Cllr Lewis believes the installation of bollards at both ends of the town preventing vehicles wider than two metres from entering would resolve the issue.
Highways officers from Kent County Council made a visit to Fordwich in the wake of the incident last week to assess the damage to the bridge.
A spokesman for the authority said: “We are aware of damage caused to the bridge in King Street, Fordwich, on Monday, August 16.
“Highways officers inspected the structure and confirmed it only suffered minor superficial damage.
“The bridge has been made safe and remedial works are being programmed. Exact costs for the repairs are not yet known.
“There is signage indicating a width restriction of two metres and there are advance warnings at the Fordwich Road junction with the A28.”
‘Fordwich was designed for horse and carts and pedestrians – it was not designed for cars’