8  Friday, February 7, 2020  WESTERN DAILY PRESS

NEWS
Four arrests
after town
drug raids
Five years on, residents
Four people were arrested in
drugs raids in Wiltshire yesterday.
More than 30 officers hit
properties in Chippenham and
Corsham.
fear a repeat of tragedy
Two women in their 20s and
two men in their 30s were last emma elgee
night being quizzed on suspicion emma.elgee@reachplc.com
of supplying class A drugs.

F
Officers seized a Range Rover ive years on from a crash
and designer goods during the that claimed four lives and
raids. shocked Bath, residents fear
Neighbourhood sergeant Rich a tragedy could happen again.
Marshall said: “These warrants On February 9, 2015, a 32-tonne
involved officers from multiple tipper truck went out of control on
departments across the force – a steep Lansdown Lane and crashed
lot of work behind the scenes is into pedestrians and parked cars.
involved in successfully executing A court later heard that its
warrants of this nature which, of brakes were defective and its driv-
course, would not have been er was helpless to stop it on the
possible without the information steep hill in Weston.
supplied by members of the Bath four-year-old Mitzi Steady
public. The public really do play died, along with Robert Parker, 59,
an important role in helping us Philip Allen, 52, and Stephen
tackle drug dealing within our Vaughan, 34 – all from Wales.
>>The truck is removed from the scene
communities.” Others, including Mitzi’s grand-
mother Margaret Rogers, sus-
tained life-changing injuries.
Residents remain traumatised
by the tragedy
One, who wished to remain
anonymous, said the events of
that day had made them want to
move away.
They said: “Nothing has
changed, the road is still danger-
ous – cars fly by my house.”

Specialist
The resident said cars slowed
down only for the traffic lights, but
then sped up straight away. They
added that people disregarding

Travel Insurance
the traffic calming measures were >>Mitzi Steady
“shaming” those who died. who was killed,
“I think it is a shame to their aged four, in the
memories when people speed tragedy which
down here. also claimed the

For over 50’s “I remember the loud bang, I

remember the beeping of the driv-
er. That poor little girl and her
lives of three men

granny … it’s just awful.”

√ All Conditions The resident spoke of the pro-
found effect the incident had had
on them, saying that they now
√ All Ages walk on the other side of the road
to avoid the tragic scene.
√
They also spoke of the lane
All Destinations being a “rat run” for people com-
ing off the motorway, adding they
would like to see more traffic
-calming measures. “That road
Always feels like a time bomb before
there’s another accident. I can’t
Great unsee what I saw that day,” they
added.
Value! *
After the crash, safety improve-
I remember the
beeping of the driver
– that poor little girl
and her granny
local resident
canes needed to be put in to stop
traffic coming down too fast and
that another speed camera could
be installed.
He added: “I can often smell
brakes of cars coming down. To be
Liberal Democrat councillor for
Weston, Shelley Bromley, said: “As
councillors for Weston, Ruth Mal-
loy and I regularly receive emails
from residents who are worried
about the general use of Lans-
down Lane by heavy vehicles, par-
ents/carers parking illegally or
carelessly on Lansdown Lane and
also about the safety of the pedes-
trian crossing at the bottom of
Lansdown Lane.
“To that end, the council will be
installing new signs at the top and
bottom of Lansdown Lane with a

20% PRICE
ments were put in place on the
road, including a zebra crossing, a
speed camera and a 20mph speed
OFF BASEODE limit.
USE C 0 Some people say they feel the
SWEST2 road is safer since the improve-
ments were implemented, but
many feel the road is still danger-
FREEPHONE our UK Call Centre 7 days a week ous and that there is still an “acci-
dent waiting to happen”.
0800 848 8688 or by visiting ReaderDeal.co.uk They raised concerns that driv-
ers are ignoring the speed limit
and other safety features.
John Roberts, who has been liv-
In Partnership with ing on Lansdown Lane since 1983,
Rated Excellent said he had noticed a “horren-
dous” problem with lorries and
45,000+ reviews buses driving down the hill.
He said: “We have big buses
*20% discount applies to the base premium on AllClear Gold and Gold Plus policies only. Offer expires at 23:59 on 29/02/2020. AllClear Gold Plus cover which do a loop from the hospital
has been 5 Star rated by Defaqto. This newspaper is owned by MGN LTD which is an introducer appointed representative of AllClear Insurance Services and come down here.”
Limited, a company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Mr Roberts suggested that chi-
honest, I’m not sure what the
answer is, but I think those would
help.”
“It is impossible to forget what
happened here; it was awful.”
Chris Lee, who moved to Havi-
land Grove in August, had not
been aware of the major crash.
He said in the few months he
had been living in Weston he had
noticed several problems around
Lansdown Lane.
Mr Lee said: “The road is bad,
it’s very steep. I take it all the time
when I go to Bristol.”
He suggested that there be more
“sleeping policeman” put in and
that people needed to think more
about their driving technique.
“It can burn the brakes going
down the hill but people need to
shift gear – some don’t.”
new compulsory weight restric-
tion.
“We also have a meeting with
the cabinet members for transport
and the design engineer to con-
sider the safety of the lower sec-
tion of Lansdown Lane, including
parking and the pedestrian cross-
ing near the roundabout.”
Cllr Joanna Wright, joint cabinet
member for transport, said: “Last
year residents raised concerns
with us about the difficulty cross-
ing the road between the school
and Brookfield Park and we are
currently investigating ways to
make it easier and safer to cross at
this point.
“We will also be looking at ways
to stop people from parking on the
pavement in this part of the road
to improve safety for pedestrians.”