Accident concerns over A1 slip road

Parked lorries have been blamed for creating a hazard on an A1 slip road.

Vehicles leaving the A1 for Cromwell are often confronted by a blocked road because of lorries parked on verges, creating the risk of accidents.

Mr Bruce Laughton, Notting-hamshire county councillor for the area, said: "It is dangerous.

"People are coming off the A1 at 60mph and hitting a line of lorries."

He said the slip road leading to Cromwell was often jammed by lorries parked on the verges on either side — and that sometimes led to stationary traffic on the A1.

"I have offered solutions and paid for no-parking signs, which disappeared within 24 hours, out of my own budget," said Mr Laughton.

"The county council chairman, Sue Saddington is picking up rubbish there every week, including vodka bottles and bottles full of urine.

The problem has been blamed on HGV drivers not wanting to pay to park in lorry parks, such as the one at Newark, when taking breaks.

A Cromwell resident, who did not want to be named, said the problem had got worse since a BP petrol station reopened there.

"It is happening every day and is particularly bad at lunch times," she said.

"Once you are stuck you cannot go anywhere.

"There needs to be work done to prevent it from happening."

She said typically there were six or seven lorries parked up on either side of the slip road — and lorries also parked across a track leading to a farm.

The A1 is the responsibility of Highways England, but the slip road is the responsibility of Nottinghamshire County Council.

Jo Horton, district highways manager for Via East Midlands, which manages Nottinghamshire’s highways network on behalf of the county council, said: "We continue to work with Highways England, residents and the parish council to find a manageable solution to this problem, which has been ongoing.

"Within the last few years, we have tried to alleviate the problem by bringing in a weight limit for Cromwell village to stop HGV through-traffic as well as introducing parking restrictions on the opposite side of the slip road, with the aim of reducing queuing lorry parking.

"The filling station directly off the slip road also has inadequate waiting facilities for HGVs on-site, which causes them to back up on to the slip road.

"Any signage flagging up the parked lorries on the slip road would need to be placed on the A1 and would need to be fairly substantial to be effective."

A spokesperson for Highways England said: "Highways Eng-land will continue to offer advice and support to the police and Nottinghamshire County Council as they seek a solution to the problem of lorry drivers parking on the verges."