TREACHEROUS driving conditions didn’t just catch out members of the public during yesterday morning’s rush hour.
Two police officers also found themselves in a slippery situation after racing to the aid of a stricken motorist who had lost control of his car on an icy road in Purton.
The officers from Wootton Bassett police station saw their patrol car clip the side of the road and overturn in Church End just yards before reaching their call-out.
But both policemen, one PC and a Police Community Support Officer, walked away from the accident without a scratch.
They had been called out to help a man in his 50s whose car had rolled on to its side outside The Pear Tree Hotel, in Purton, shortly after 8am.
He had been driving his black Renault Laguna when he lost control and skidded off course.
The accident came just hours after 0.5cm of snow fell on the borough, coupled with freezing temperatures.
A police spokesman said: “We were called out at 8.03am after the Laguna had ended up on its side.
“The driver complained about pains in his side and it appears he was worried that if he got out of the car it might move.
“A police car also went over on the same road. The officers were uninjured.
“It looks like the car clipped the side of the road and rolled.
“The road had become treacherous and was closed at 8.15am.”
Another car, a blue Fiat Punto, also crashed along the same stretch in a separate incident.
The male driver from Purton suffered no injuries after hitting a metal fence.
All three cars came to rest along the road outside the hotel in the village.
The road had become a hazardous spot and police were concerned for the safety of other vehicles.
It was closed for more than three hours before re-opening at 11.42am.
Each of the cars was recovered by breakdown trucks.
There were also road closures in surrounding areas from The Fox, The Red House, Purton, and the Lydiard Millicent side junction, Church Place and Stone Lane. Motorists were advised to avoid the area.
Earlier in the morning the Wiltshire Fire And Rescue Service was called out to Priors Hill, in Wroughton, after a car slid off the road and into a garden fence at 7.05am.
Source: This is Wiltshire
January 6th, 2009 in
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Staff, patients and visitors at hospitals in the north and north-east yesterday took advantage of free car parking.
The NHS reported that a new regime at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, Perth Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin was warmly welcomed by all drivers and implemented smoothly.
However, charges are still in place at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee because car parking facilities are operated by Vinci Park Ltd under a long-term private finance initiative contract.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said she was pleased that car parking charges had been abolished because they constituted a “tax on ill-health”.
“NHS boards have submitted plans for addressing potential increases in demand, the promotion of greener transport and the possible misuse of spaces by commuters or others and we will continue to monitor these,” she added.
Ms Sturgeon said she expected NHS Tayside to take action to minimise the impact of car parking charges at Ninewells Hospital.
A spokeswoman for the health board said Vinci Park Ltd is not interested in negotiating a contract buyout.
She added, however, that the firm has promised to ensure onsite services such as compassionate parking arrangements, the courtesy bus and the mobility scooter service, all continue.
Meanwhile, the introduction of free parking at Perth Royal Infirmary, has ended a “nightmare situation” for local residents.
Perth and Kinross Council Tory group leader Alexander Stewart pledged yesterday to monitor the situation to ensure householders in the area continued to benefit.
Mr Stewart, the representative for the Perth City South ward, described it as one of the most contentious issues he has had to deal with during his time in local government. He said yesterday: “I warned at the outset, when parking charges were proposed, that it would have an adverse effect on my constituents who reside in the surrounding streets.
“Sure enough, once they were brought in, locals were regularly faced with a nightmare situation. Cars would be left abandoned and disregarded in every possible location, even, on occasions, on the pavement or in residents’ private drives. The police had to be summoned a number of times and some streets became one way due to the number of vehicles being left there.”
“Perth and Kinross Council introduced restrictions during 2003-04 in certain streets due to the dangers of parked cars but the decision to abolish the parking charges had to come from the health board or the Scottish Government.
“That has now taken place, with effect from January 1, and I am delighted and relieved that has happened.
“It is my hope and wish that we can now all play a responsible part when parking at the hospital.”
Mr Stewart noted that NHS Tayside had introduced regulations to ensure the free parking was not abused and he praised them for that.”
“Time will tell whether their actions, and the deeds of patients, visitors and staff, will ensure a better situation for my constituents.
“Parking is always going to be a controversial issue and I know that since the introduction of the new bus link between Perth Royal and Ninewells, it has already had an impact on the number of cars present at the hospital.”
“The impact of the redevelopment at PRI has also had an impact, and will continue to do so, as we see new facilities and services located at the hospital.”
A new parking system was launched at Aberdeen’s Foresterhill campus to coincide with the non-charging regime. A short-stay car park, which people can use for three hours at a time and a long-stay facility where staff can park is now in operation.
Source: Press and Journal
January 6th, 2009 in
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A HUNGARIAN man was caught driving his lorry in Newmarket’s Fordham Road when more than twice the legal drink-drive limit.
Police stopped the white DAF articulated lorry on New Year’s Eve and the driver, Antal Besenyi, failed a breath test.
His gave a reading of 85 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 micrograms.
Besenyi, 41, was kept in police custody overnight until he appeared before magistrates at Ipswich on Thursday.
He admitted the charge and was banned from driving in Britain for 22 months.
He was fined £300 with the alternative of 14 days in jail if he failed to pay the fine and was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.
He was one of a number of drivers caught in Suffolk police’s seasonal clampdown on drink-driving.
January 5th, 2009 in
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A HORROR smash closed a road last night while two people were taken to hospital.
Two cars are thought to have crashed outside Englefield House in Englefield at around 10.30pm last night. The fire brigade, ambulance service and police were all called out and the A340 Tidmarsh Road was closed while they tried to help the victims.
Leading firefighter Marlin Browne, from Dee Road station, said: “There was a collision - two cars and two persons injured, they were taken to hospital. I don’t know whether they were male or female or if there was anyone else in the cars.
“The cars were so badly damaged I could not tell what make they were.
“We were just making the scene safe, which involves things like making sure airbags don’t go off and sorting out lighting.
“The road would have been closed for quite a considerable time.”
Source: Reading Chronicle
