A CAR that hit the parapet at Bedlam Bridge after turning left from the Stonea side of the Sixteen Foot towards March has prompted calls for extra safety barriers to be installed sooner rather than later.

Graham Chappell, organiser for the Fenland Road Safety Campaign, said those involved in Saturday night’s accident “were clearly in shock and highly upset.”

Luckily, though, he said the passengers got out unscathed, although one suffered minor injury. Mr Chappell said: “Police attending the accident confirmed there had been only one relatively minor injury and with the vehicle stuck in the bridge parapet at the time it was evident there had been no river entry.”

He said: “The accident has clearly demonstrated the value of the additional safety improvements that have been proposed at Bedlam Bridge.”

The road safety campaign’s jointly proposed funding of barriers at the bridge was approved by the county council this summer.

He now wonders if the combined bridge parapet safety upgrade and barriers “scheduled for installation and completion by the end of the year might now be timetabled sooner”.

Andrew Walker, the father of Charlotte Walker whose death prompted the safety campaign, said of Saturday’s accident that he was “relieved that these people only suffered shock and minor injuries and would hope they could support us in our campaign, when they have overcome the shock”.