Just sent an email to West Mercia Police

Dear West Mercia Police

Earlier this afternoon, my wife and I went shopping in Shrewsbury. As we live in Baschurch, this means driving along Huffley Lane.

We watched a large tractor with a huge hopper pull out of a field entrance on the north side of the road, cross the road, and go into a field on the south side of the road. In doing so it left an enormous amount of mud and earth across the carriageway. The tractor driver did nothing even to attempt to clear up the mess. And it was a terrible mess, huge clumps of earth, grass, and mud.

I would point out that Huffley Lane has some sharp and steep hills at this point where it goes over the drumlins, and forward visibility is very limited. That's why there are double white lines at the location. It is also a 60mph limit. You will know that some years ago there was a fatal accident in Huffley Lane, a young lad sadly lost his life. I am not suggesting that the circumstances were the same or that the incidents are remotely connected but I would have thought that the fact of the fatal accident would have made the location more sensitive.

As I ride a motorcycle I was shocked and realised the likely consequences. So my wife dialled 101 and reported the incident The operator said that she would report the matter to 'Highways'. My wife said that as it was about to rain the earth would soon become a sea of mud.

We have just returned, the same way. And... NOTHING has happened. The rain has turned the earth and mud into a giant mud slick, spread by vehicles for about half a mile in either direction, maybe more. It is very dangerous for motorbikes and yet NOTHING has been done. Bikes would be approaching this hazard at 60mph, the road is unlit so this dark eveil mess is impossible to see. I sincerely hope that nobody is hurt on this mess.

I would like to know what action you took to clear up the mess, and whether you spoke to the tractor driver. If you didn't, are you proposing to do anything?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Ed Austin


I'll post up the response (assuming they bother).

 

Thank you for e-mailing West Mercia Police. We will respond to your message within 24hrs and where necessary provide a more detailed response as soon as we can. If your e-mail indicates dissatisfaction with our service provision then we will reply to you within 24hrs of the matter being reported.

 

Nice one Ed, but what's 101?

 

The new phone number for plod in a non-emergency.

Also bear in mind that West Mercia is one of the police forces involved in plebgate, one of the officers who met Andrew Mitchell at his constituency office was from West Mercia Police and he was the one who gave the false account of what happened. For being caught telling bare-faced lies to the media, the grand poobah overruled the result of an internal investigation and refused to discipline the officer concerned. You can see how useless they are. Totally totally useless.

 

Well well I just received this:

Good Evening Mr Austin,

I have attended Huffley Lane this evening to assess your concerns regarding problems with mud debris on the carriage way.

I have assessed the road conditions and can advise you that the farmer concerned has and was in the process of removing the mud from the carriage way.

Should you notice this again in the future please contact us so that further assessments can be made.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Kind Regards,

PC 0569 Simon BRINDLEY
Patrol Officer & STO TEAM E
West Mercia Police
Shropshire Territorial Policing Unit
Shrewsbury Police Station
Clive Road,
Shrewsbury SY2 5RW

***

With a bit of luck the farmer will realise that s/he can't get away with this sort of arrogance and won't do it again. It's unreasonable to expect a wheel wash on every field entrance/exit but the amount of crap on the road really was disgraceful.

 

^^^good idea!!

 

We have exactly the same issue in this area and the same "so what?" attitude from the Farmers that have done this since year dot. I don't know about other parts of the country but N.Essex is very rich in sand and gravel and consequently the mud from the fields contains a high proportion of grit and small stones, the rain and traffic passage will eventually wash the soil into the ditches but it leaves a stone trail in 3 places on the road, in the middle of the road and in the middle of each lane - the latter exactly where a bike wants to ride. It's pretty disconcerting to come round a corner and find that in your path, yes I know we should ride to what we can see but that doesn't make it right or tolerable, but along with potholes of various sizes its just another hazard to avoid when out on the road.

P.S. like the idea of a chain gang!

 

Must be the same all over this area then Red. :evil: I know farmers can't avoid getting mud on the roads and I don't want to close farms down for this I just wish they'd make a decent job of trying to clean up after themselves, it's not hard after all, an old tractor with a rotary brush on to clean the road up a bit is easy, playing supermoto halfway round a corner unexpectedly isn't bloody funny. :shock:

 

There's laws about using mobile phones whilst driving but it hasn't stopped the problem Ludoctro, I have no doubt the farmers know all the regs etc, but round here they don't seem to take a blind bit of notice, the mud is there until traffic and weather clear it away. As for informing the police - we don't even have a Police Station anymore, the nearest Station has an automated answer service and you never get called back, next time I'll use Ed's 101 number and see if that makes a difference. Fingers crossed.

Btw - see what they did there? If you can't report an offence, it can't be recorded. Ergo the crime figures go down. I'm so cynical.....