TWO men said they were lucky to be alive after a heavy goods lorry ploughed into a bridge near Tavistock on Tuesday morning, renewing calls for a speed reduction at the 'accident blackspot'. Haulage driver Lewis Demary walked free from the collision on the A386 near Pitts Cleave — and ground worker Des Martin had been due to clear vegetation from the site of impact but had arrived late for work that morning. The overturned lorry was overhanging the old railway bridge, which has a 30ft drop, and major damage was caused to the structure where recent maintenance work had been carried out by Devon County Council. Scaffolding, due to be taken down that day, was lying in pieces underneath the bridge along with the scrap wood contents of the 36-tonne lorry, which had been en route from Crowndale tip to Deep Moor landfill site at Great Torrington. A shaken Mr Demary said he regularly drove the route and was unsure what happened. 'I think it was the momentum of the vehicle on the road and the weight just flipped it. One thing's for sure — I feel very lucky.' Groundworker Des Martin would have been exactly where the cab of the lorry was if he had been at work on time. His client, Martin Spicer, who owns the old Tate and Lyle factory nearby, said it was also a miracle there was no-one working on the bridge, as the scaffolding was due to be taken down this week. He said: 'There could have so easily been a fatality here today and it is only a matter of time before there is because this is a very dangerous bend and there needs to be a reduction in the speed limit. 'There have been a number of accidents — vehicles are consistently going off the bend and this is the second lorry that has gone into the bridge in 12 months. Mr Spicer said the 60mph zone was too high for a road this hazardous and with a cycle path due to be constructed underneath the bridge, traffic officers now needed to take this matter very seriously. 'This is a health and safety issue — you cannot run a cycle path near a dangerous bend like this, it needs to be re-routed.' Mr Spicer said he would be contacting his county councillor and MP about the issue. Gerald Williamson, from Harford Bridge Holiday Park, said he was concerned for his customers, many of whom were families with young children. 'We have to exit the park onto the A386 and we frequently hear brakes screeching where cars have to slow down around that bend. 'We have had to stop driving our horse and carriage into town because it is too dangerous.' Local service officer for Devon County Council Brian George said accident figures over the last three years in that area would be looked at in April and appropriate action taken if there appeared to be a cluster of incidents but there was no suggestion from previous records that this was 'an accident blackspot'. He said: 'Blackspot is a very emotive word. Often, people who live in between communities where the speed limit is 60mph perceive it to be a problem because drivers drive in excess of the speed they should be doing on that section of road without taking into account weather conditions, bends and other factors.' The road was closed for more than seven hours. Traffic was diverted via Lydford.
