A RESIDENT has complained about the state of a wall that has been hit by vehicles on numerous occasions in the five years he has been living nearby.

Martin Patterson, who lives on Wooda Lane, Launceston, says he recalls about five vehicles going through the wall that runs alongside the A388 St Thomas Road, opposite the castle.

The most recent incident was in May, as reported in the Post, when a car left the road, and ended up 100 metres down a bank, in a field near Wooda Lane.

Thankfully, no-one was trapped or seriously injured.

But Martin said: “It’s only a matter of time and somebody will die. It sounds dramatic, but it will happen.

“If you drive down that road there are no signs whatsoever saying there’s a double blind bend, there’s a hill, they don’t mention the gradient of the hill, it doesn’t say slow down. There’s nothing that warns people what they have got in front of them.

“As a bare minimum they need a 30mph sign just before the castle and the bend, a sign that says it’s a double bend, they need a slow down sign and they need the gradient of the hill. There’s nothing — not a single sign.

“Putting a few signs up is not going to cost a vast amount of money but might just make people be aware there’s a bend, there’s a hill, and even 30mph can be too fast for some drivers.”

He claims road signs there in the past have been knocked down and not replaced.

He said the wall is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, claiming it has ‘been asked by [Cornwall] council to rebuild it or repair it’, but accused the Duchy of ‘dragging their heels’.

A spokesperson for the Duchy of Cornwall said: “The wall in question is a highways structure maintained by Cornwall Council; we understand the matter is currently being dealt with by the council’s road safety team.”

Liberal Democrat Cornwall Councillor for Launceston South, Jade Farrington, said: “Safety needs to be improved along St Thomas Road to combat the regular accidents there. The council has done an assessment and a designer has been brought in to produce the best scheme given the difficult structure of the road with the castle wall on one side and a steep drop on the other.” She said they will soon be giving their recommendations.

Martin is also seriously concerned that Japanese Knotweed is growing on the wall and the other side, adding: “That’s really serious, it’s becoming a large amount now.”

He raised concerns it will affect the house prices of those living nearby.

He said: “I told [the council] about the Japanese Knotweed last year and they said thanks very much, we will sort it. They came out and sprayed it. Spraying Japanese Knotweed will not kill it.

“They think that two or three times a year, if they spray it that will kill it, it won’t. It’s now grown to such a level through the wall it’s growing on top of it, and the other side.

“I’m really worried about it. Eventually it will come down the hill into the allotments and just spread everywhere. Then it will cost a fortune, you have to dig the roots out and burn them.”

He said he had spoken to his Cornwall Councillor, Cllr Farrington.

Cllr Farrington said: “Unfortunately it takes several years of treatments to get rid of knotweed. The council treated the knotweed last year and has done so again this year. Most of the knotweed is not on public land, but on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

“The council received agreement from the Duchy that the council could treat that too but the Duchy would pay for the treatment, as obviously taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for work on Duchy land. This latter treatment was carried out on Wednesday, August 8. The herbicide used was Synero, a product used when the plant is in growth and can only be applied once a year.”

Cllr Farrington said it was expected to be treated again with Roundup Proactive 360.