Demand for action over road collisions
Farmers are using their mobile phones while driving and speeding through a village on the Powys/Shropshire border, a councillor has claimed.
Councillor Heather Kidd said she has contacted police and landowners demanding they take rapid action to end a spate of accidents and near misses on the region's roads.
Councillor Kidd said she has seen a number of bumps take place, while a tractor and lorry became stuck on the road between Chirbury and Montgomery earlier this month.
She said she is now urging the police and landowners to warn tractor drivers of the dangers of bad driving on roads in and around Chirbury.
Councilor Kidd, who represents Chirbury and Worthen on Shropshire Council, said: "We have a serious problem here with a number of tractor drivers who have been contracted to move silage from fields around Chirbury to Montgomery I believe.
"Normally nobody objects to farmers getting their crops harvested but these gentlemen have been grossly irresponsible in their driving leading to a spate of incidents.
"As well as speeding through Chirbury they have been using their mobiles while driving and failing to stop at the road junction in the village.
"All this while towing trailer loads of silage. The final straw came last week when a tractor tried to squeeze by a lorry on a narrow stretch of the B4386 leading to a collision. Fortunately nobody was hurt but the road was blocked for some time.
"We have also had a spate of near misses including one young girl who avoided being hit by inches.
"I have already contacted the police and am pressing the landowner to get a grip on his contractors before someone is seriously hurt."
Dyfed-Powys Police said it reminds farmers and members of the agricultural community to clean up and remove any mud from the roads and to drive within the law.
Inspector Mark Davies, head of roads policing for the force, said: "While we appreciate that farmers and contractors need to move their machines from field to field, we are simply asking that any mess left on the road is cleared away as soon as possible.
"This may seem a trivial matter to those working the land, but the consequences can be dire for drivers and motorcyclists, who can be caught unaware by mud on the road and potentially lose control of their vehicle.
''My advice to all operators of agricultural machines is simple - remember your responsibility and take action."
