A MAN is at his wits’ end after seeing a sixth car crash into his front garden in just over two-and-a-half years.
Tom Wardle, of Bretforton, near Evesham, is sick and tired of the carnage caused by cars careering off the road and smashing through a stone wall at the edge of his property on Main Street.
As well as the regular repair bills, Mr Wardle said he is now unable to sell his house and is worried that someone could be killed if the accidents continue.
Now he is having to pick up the pieces from the latest accident on Saturday.
“I was sitting watching TV at about 6.30pm and there was this enormous bang. The damage was probably less than last time as the car hit two wheelie bins first so they took a lot of the force.
“If it had been a little earlier on a school day there could have been children passing. After the crash, this lad got out of the car and said ‘I don’t know what happened there I know this road very well and I drive it everyday. I just don’t know what the answer is’.”
The first accident happened at Mr Wardle’s property on September 29, 2010. The following year saw three smashes with the first on April 4, the second on August 4 and then another just three weeks later on August 26.
The fifth happened on Wednesday, July 4, last year. Mr Wardle, who has lived in Main Street since 1994, said: “I have now had to take the house off the market. I cannot move. The whole thing has affected me and my wife’s health.”
After the fifth accident, Worcestershire County Council carried out tests which revealed an average speed of 30mph and no evidence suggesting that the surface of the road was contributing towards the accidents.
Jon Fraser, county highways manager, said: “We have taken Mr Wardle’s concerns very seriously and last year speed and skid resistance tests resulted in a permanent speed activated sign being installed at the bend on Main Street.
“Following the recent incident, the county highways’ inspectors will carry out a further assessment of the road surface, which may have deteriorated over the winter months.”
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