RESIDENTS of Lechlade have called for an end to lorries driving through the town centre after a cyclist was left with potentially life-changing injuries following a collision with a HGV.
The 52-year-old woman, from the town, was struck by a Hanson Heidelberg Cement Group lorry outside L'Artigiano Ristorante on High Street at around 8.45am last Thursday (September 7), suffering serious leg injuries.
Debbie Ash, of the League of Friends shop, who also lives in the town, said: “It’s becoming a dangerous road, the amount of big lorries that are allowed to come through Lechlade. I wish they’d all go.
“The amount of traffic, not the cars, but the amount of HGV lorries, is ridiculous and getting worse by the day,” continued Debbie, who has lived in the town for eight years.
“It’s always been going on but it’s been getting steadily worse over the years, and they get bigger and bigger.
“Lorries just keep coming through here, it’s an accident waiting to happen,” she added.
Louise and Nichloas Millard moved to the town from Chedworth last year and said they worry for the safety of their 13-year-old son Ethan.
“We worry constantly for our teenage son on his journey to school,” said Louise.
“We don't understand why the bypass wasn't built and we think that very large articulated lorries in a small town centre, mingling with pedestrians, children going to school and cyclists are not a wise combination.”
Speaking at the scene of the collision, PC Tim Griffiths said the lorry was travelling from Faringdon to Fairford prior to the accident.
The cyclist was taken by Wiltshire Air Ambulance to South Meade Hospital.
“Her injuries are not life threatening but they are serious and potentially what we describe as life changing.”
He said: “She was given a unit of blood by the air ambulance at the scene and she was provided critical care by paramedics before she was taken to South Meade to determine her injuries.”
Police have confirmed that the lorry driver was a 49-year-old man from the Oxfordshire area and investigations are ongoing.
PC Griffiths said he was breathalysed and given a drugs wipe at the scene; both of which were negative.
Speaking at a Lechlade Town Council meeting on Monday, PCSO Andrea Shutt said: “It’s very early days. There has been eight witness statements taken, so lots of information coming in that needs to be examined. The town’s CCTV have been accessed.
“The lorry, from what I understand, has been seized as well.”
The woman reportedly works at Lechlade Garden Centre.
A spokeswoman for Gloucestershire Police said on Tuesday: “She is still in a serious but stable condition.”
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