A WEST Devon village where trade nose-dived after an accident forced a three-week road closure is appealing for action to stop it happening again. Traders are asking for a weight restriction on the Devon/Cornwall crossing at Greystone Bridge because of a number of accidents involving lorries ? the latest, almost three weeks ago, caused a large section of the wall to fall down. The accident meant the closure of the A384 with diversions sending motorists on the A390 via Gunnislake and A388 via Callington. For a village that relies on passing trade as well as local custom, businesses in Milton Abbot have been feeling the strain. Proprietor of Endsleigh Gardens Nursery Michael Taylor said his trade had been down by 30% and for the first few days after the accident he hardly saw anybody. He said: ?People have been having trouble getting here and many have given up and gone home again. ?Someone rang us on a mobile the other day having gone through Tavistock and Callington and had got lost. They could have done with more signs because people were getting confused.? Milton Abbot postmistress Hilary Pitt said she could not survive on village trade alone and the road closure had resulted in her trade being down by 25%. She said: ?It?s been a real pain actually because the diversions have sent people on one hell of a journey and holidaymakers especially have been getting lost. ?There are frequent accidents at Greystone Bridge which always involve big lorries ? this bridge was built for horses not juggernauts and it cannot cope with them.? Susanne Penfold from Hotel Endsleigh agreed: ?There should be a weight restriction on the bridge or more warning. ?Narrow bridges over the water do not seem to have enough warning signs. We have lovely old road and bridges but there needs to be more restrictions on them. ?It has been an inconvenience to have this road closed, because it added 45 minutes to the journey getting here but it?s not the county council?s fault. ?I do feel, however, there should have been some information signs on the A30 to let people know there was a road closure ahead. With a five-star hotel in the village I would expect the county to be a bit more pro-active.? Another local business ,Countryman Cider, estimated that it had lost 50% of its trade because business always boomed in the hot weather. ?We have also had to drive a lot of extra miles because of the diversions, and businesses who collect cider from us have not been able to do so because they do not want to be re-routed,? said proprietor Vernon Shutler. Local service officer for Devon County Council Brian George said the good news was that the work on the bridge would definitely be completed by tomorrow (Friday) and possibly before. ?The works element will have only taken one and a half weeks when it was predicted to take three weeks,? he said. Work could not start immediately after the accident because discussions had to take place with English Heritage over the Grade II listed structure. Mr George said a lorry taking a whole section of the wall out at Greystone Bridge was an unusual occurrence ? he was aware of one other incident. ?We get minor bits of damage on the bridge and once a year someone is sent to carry out repairs,? he said. ?But we are always looking at ways of minimising any damage caused to the bridge. ?We are not planning to put a specific weight limit on the road and we are restricted on what we can do to improve the geometry at the ends because of its listed status. Mr George said a weight restriction would probably affect trade in Milton Abbot a great deal more because businesses would not get the custom from lorry drivers. It is the second time this year that a route between the two counties has been closed. In February, the A390 between Tavistock and Callington was closed because of water mains repairs.
