Bus rips awning off Wem shop front

Glenn Purvis, who owns The House of Jumble and The Comic Vault with his wife Kate Diamond, was shocked to see the black and orange awning pulled off during the incident at the weekend.

The old-fashioned frontage at the shop on High Street, along with cast iron brackets was caught when a bus mounted the pavement to avoid an oncoming vehicle.

And Mr Purvis said it could be thousands of pounds worth of damage caused by the accident.

He said: "Anyone within 15 feet from the window wouldn't have stood a chance. I was just so glad there was no one there and no one got hurt.

"It is 14 feet long, so it would have done some serious damage. I was amazed – it was a miracle it didn't take the windows off with it."

But Mr Purvis said it was the second time there had been a vehicle catch the frontage.

The first time there was not as much damage but he now believes it is a problem with the width of the road.

He said: "I think it is a problem with the road. They have got parking spaces across the road and they widened the pavement near it so it narrowed the road.

"I do think they should move the spaces further into the pavement so the road is widened – then people wouldn't mount the pavement."

He has also said there could be an opportunity to install a bollard or a sign to warn large vehicles of the dangers when mounting the path.

Residents in Wem have been discussing ways to solve traffic problems for a number of months.

Some people want HGVs to be restricted from using parts of the town centre, while others believe more parking restrictions should be enforced.

Bollards used to protect the wall outside St Peter's and St Paul's Church in the town have been damaged several times by vehicles over the last few months.