A BUS shelter put in place in Earsham Street, Bungay, only six months ago was demolished by a lorry on Tuesday evening.And for nearby residents it was a case of d�j� vu - the shelter it replaced had been so badly damaged by a cattle trailer that it was not repairable.

A BUS shelter put in place in Earsham Street, Bungay, only six months ago was demolished by a lorry on Tuesday evening.

And for nearby residents it was a case of d�j� vu - the shelter it replaced had been so badly damaged by a cattle trailer that it was not repairable. That one had also been damaged earlier by a lorry.

It means by a remarkable co-incidence the shelter, outside the Castle Inn, has been hit three times in little more than three years. The one razed to the ground on Tuesday by an articulated lorry trying to reverse to turn into Chaucer Street was finally put in place by Bungay Town Council last autumn at a cost of �2300, two years after its predecessor had been damaged when a cattle float parted from its tractor.

Roger Allen, who lives next door to the inn, said his wife Sue heard “an almighty noise” and went out to see the shelter horizontal and close to their front window.

“If it was going to slip it would have come into the house,” he said.

Tanya Martin, who runs the inn with Mark Hougham, said after the previous one had been damaged it was left for two years before being taken down.

“We spoke to the council in June last year about getting it replaced or changing its location. We petitioned our neighbours to find out their thoughts about a new design - something older and more traditional,” she said.

After three incidents there in three years, she said big trucks should not be going through the town in the first place.

“That is the main problem - big trucks were not designed to be driving through little streets - it increases the risks of accidents.”

Ms Martin, took the number of the lorry involved and reported the incident to the police.

Mr Hougham, who praised Suffolk County Council for their quick action in removing the debris, said it was possibly not the best location for the shelter - it would be better further down the street.

Town Clerk Peter Morrow said later that he understood the lorry driver had missed the turn from Earsham Street into Chaucer Street when travelling to bookprinters Clays, and struck the shelter while reversing.

The town council owned the shelter, and Mr Morrow also praised the quick response of the county council when he alerted them to the need to move the wreckage quickly. He said he expected to recover the whole cost of removal and provision of a new shelter from the insurance company, and expected a new shelter to be in place reasonably quick. The delay on the last occasion was partly caused by a late change of view of the design of the structure.