A ROAD traffic collision occurred over the weekend at Knights Mill, St Teath, which saw a vehicle plunge into the garage of a local couple.

The vehicle, a black Mercedes, crashed into the property of Derek and Joy Baldock — they say causing thousands of pounds of damage.

Police were informed at 10.25am on Sunday, July 9, of a vehicle having gone into a garage/annexe area of a house in St Teath.

Mr Baldock told the Post: “We have had over 100 vehicles crash into our house in the last 43 years since we have been here.

“Half of them get written off because the damage is so extensive. I’ve had to write off at least ten of my own cars because other people crash into them when they are parked outside.”

Mr Baldock said last September things got particularly bad. He said: “They redirected A39 traffic through here and we had a total of 17 accidents in six weeks, it was quite worrying sitting in the house wondering when the next one would hit!“

Mr Baldock says he believes a large number of the accidents are because of speeding and overtaking on a ‘very nasty bend’. The speed limit is set at 30mph.

He said: “Too many people try to overtake on that stretch before the bridge. They start to overtake, put their foot down and by the time they hit the bridge they don’t have enough time to break and smash into our house or the ones nearby.”

Mr Baldock said change is needed to reduce the number of accidents.

He said: “The council needs to do something because this time it is looking like there might be over £5,000 worth of damage, in the past I had to fork out £850 when an uninsured driver crashed into our property.

“At the age of 75, the last thing you want is to have people crashing into your home. We are pensioners, we can’t afford to be shelling out money for accidents that aren’t our fault!”

Mr Baldock said he and his wife are lucky they weren’t stood outside at the time: “At 10am we went off to church. At 10.10am the accident happened, if we had been stood outside we would have been crushed!”

Mr Baldock said a solution needs to be found: “These crashes can’t only be costing us money, it must cost the tax payer thousands of pounds because for this latest incident we had the police, fire crews and even the air ambulance out. That is all costing money, which to me seems silly when a simple solution like double white lines to stop the overtaking or one of those flashing 30mph signs could solve the problem!”

Cornwall Councillor for the St Teath and St Breward Ward Dominic Fairman responded to the images of the crash. He said: “Shocking picture of the devastation at Knights Mill following the latest accident involving a vehicle coming down the hill from Camelford and losing control after hitting the bridge.

“Since the spate of accidents here last autumn, Cormac have been drawing up plans for new signage and/or road markings.”

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Officers from CORMAC met local residents and the local Cornwall Councillor yesterday [Monday, July 10] to view the damage following the road traffic collision on Sunday.

“Since the previous meeting almost nine months ago, centre line road markings and red surfacing has been renewed and temporary reflective cones have been placed adjacent to the bridge parapet. A topographical survey has been carried out to ascertain the road layout and surface levels so that design work can take place to introduce additional safety measures this financial year. The cause of the recent incident is being investigated and officers will be working closely with the police to get the details.”