Sandtoft resident says road is 'England's worst'

Lesley Pickersgill has witnessed numerous accidents along Idle Bank, between Sandtoft and Westwoodside.

The latest was on Friday when a lorry came to grief off the side of the road.

Mrs Pickersgill said Friday's was one of many accidents in her 14 years living near the road. She has been involved in two crashes on that stretch.

In one of them, she was forced off the road and into a hedge.

The accident caused an alloy wheel and a tyre to be destroyed.

"And the balancing was all out," she said.

"It cost me a couple of hundred quid. You don't need that."

It could have been worse, Mrs Pickersgill said.

"I had my dogs and my daughter with me," she said.

The road, she said, is full of potholes, and made more dangerous by steep ditches on either side.

Lorries and tractors have torn up the shoulder when moving over to let vehicles pass, making it even more treacherous.

In the other accident, Mrs Pickersgill said her wing mirror was broken off by an oncoming lorry.

She was lucky, and Mrs Pickersgill said other motorists might not have such a fortunate escape should they be in an accident.

Mrs Pickersgill said it was nicknamed 'Bumpy Road', such was its poor state.

Bad weather, snow and ice make it even worse.

"It's a ludicrous road. It's mad," the Vermuyden Villas resident said.

Tractors, she said, made it worse by dropping mud from nearby fields onto the bitumen.

The road runs from the River Idle at one end to Sandtoft at the other. It's long and straight, which Mrs Pickersgill said made it a haven for hoons in fast cars.

"You see some of these teenagers flying down the road," she said.

"I've got three kids, and I don't want them running into any of them."

She wants council representatives to come and assess the road.

"If they did something to make it better, people would be grateful," she said.

"It's the worst road in England, honestly."

North Lincolnshire Council has been approached for comment.