A LORRY driver was injured and his trailer damaged beyond repair when it crashed into a ditch on a road being used as part of a diversion route. Wings Transport of Chatteris is now considering taking action against Cambridgeshire County Council, which has

A LORRY driver was injured and his trailer damaged beyond repair when it crashed into a ditch on a road being used as part of a diversion route.

Wings Transport of Chatteris is now considering taking action against Cambridgeshire County Council, which has responsibility for Muchwood Lane, Ramsey.

Villagers believe the incident involving the 41-tonne lorry was an accident waiting to happen. The articulated lorry carrying potatoes toppled into a ditch after the wheels of its trailer slid down a soft verge.

Driver Christopher Page suffered damaged ligaments in his right shoulder and is expected to be off work for two months.

Owner Barry Wing said: "Our driver was lucky he wasn't more seriously injured, but he will still be off work. We only bought the trailer in January and it is damaged beyond repair. We are a small company and cannot afford to lose a £20,000 trailer and its load."

Since the accident, soft verge signs have been put up at the site, but Mr Wing said this was too little, too late.

The road, which is being used as part of a diversion while repairs are carried out on nearby Wells Bridge, was closed for around 18 hours while police righted the vehicle and cleared the debris.

Work on the bridge will continue until July, until then all traffic, including HGVs will have to use the diversion.

Local councillor Ray Powell said: "This was an accident waiting to happen. It was inevitable that something like this would take place. The road is simply too narrow to cope with huge lorries.

A county council spokesman said: "We were concerned to hear about this incident. The problem we have while the Wells Bridge is closed is it is difficult to find viable alternative routes that do not take lorries through the centre of Ramsey