A councillor has called for tractors to be either banned or their speed reduced through an East Cambs village.
The call comes from Councillor Bill Hunt after he had visited the scene of the latest incident involving a tractor which ploughed into two cottages on Sunday morning.
Cllr Hunt said the scene looked like “something out of a play game. There was this huge trailer which had skidded down the road and ended up some 40 yards from the house”.
Luckily the occupants were away when the incident happened but Cllr Hunt is concerned that “a hell of a disaster is just waiting to happen.”
He said villagers were at the end of their tether and it was time a way was found to control tractors through Wilburton. He felt the issue of heavy goods vehicles had been tackled successfully by route planning and the same was needed to stop unnecessary tractor movements.
He said many tractors were carting maize and there was the temptation to use Wilburton as a short cut.
“We all remember those old grey Fergusons but these new mammoth tractors and their loads are a different thing altogether,” he said.
Cllr Hunt will be asking the county council to explore regulations to stop tractors using the village.
“There has to be some way to do this,” he said.
Sunday’s incident was the second time in four years a tractor and trailer hit the same cottage in High Street.
Traceyanne Devine, who supplied these photos, said: “It is time the tractors stopped coming through Wilburton.”
In January, 2011, a tractor carrying a cargo of carrots crashed into one of the houses hit today.
Not everyone agrees tractors should be banned.
One man posted a comment on Facebook to say that “likely an impatient car driver pushing it and barging through causing the tractor to brake and swerve causing the accident; not always the tractor driver’s fault”.
Another said: “It’s not a case of stopping them coming through but more a case of slowing them down.”
It is thought the tractor was towing a laden muck-spreader when it crashed into the houses.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here