Dan Haynes A BECCLES man whose garden wall has been demolished three times by motorists wants to see traffic calming measures on the road.Edward Lewis, who lives with his wife in Ravensmere on a corner that adjoins Pound Lane, has seen his garden wall knocked down twice in the past year by wayward vehicles turning the bend.

Dan Haynes

A BECCLES man whose garden wall has been demolished three times by motorists wants to see traffic calming measures on the road.

Edward Lewis, who lives with his wife in Ravensmere on a corner that adjoins Pound Lane, has seen his garden wall knocked down twice in the past year by wayward vehicles turning the bend.

Mr Lewis, who said he fears for the safety of himself and his wife as well as pedestrians, added that the wall had been destroyed by vehicles at least four times in total.

However there was good news this week as Suffolk County Council confirmed they would look into the problem.

The wall was most recently knocked over by a van just before Christmas, in an incident where a parked car was also hit. The wall has still not been rebuilt because Mr Lewis is concerned a similar accident will happen again.

He believes that the problem may lie in the camber of the road. “It takes them to the outside of the bend and it makes them unable to avoid the wall, it seems,” he explained. “On a map the bend doesn't look very much but it's more than it appears. It's always happened in the early morning or late at night. People think they can break the speed limit, come up on the outside of the bend and get carried away with the camber.”

He added that the accidents always happen in the winter when it is slippery, and that he would wait until next month before considering rebuilding the wall as he was concerned it might happen again in bad weather.

“If it had happened when we were out gardening we could've been killed, without being too dramatic about it,” he said. “The lowest part is about six foot, the highest part is about seven foot, and it's nine inches thick. There's a fair amount of rubble that comes into the garden when it gets hit.”

However his biggest concern was for pedestrians walking on the bend. “To hit the wall vehicles have got to cross the pavement,” he said. “People do walk up and down there and it's the same road where there's an infant school.”

A Suffolk County Council spokesman said the problem was being looked into and preliminary plans for a speed management improvement scheme were being drawn up.

However with budgets tied up for 2009/10 the project would have to take place in the next financial year.