Driver fined after his 19ft pile of scrap pulled down cables

The lorry was heading through North Trade Road at around 8.30am on Friday (February 28) when the top of the load broke the cables as the vehicle travelled between Asten Fields and Tollgates.

The broken cables came to a rest on the pavements.

Fearing the cables may be dangerous, workmen from a nearby property raced outside to stop anyone from touching them, including pupils on their way to Claverham Community College.

One workman told the Observer: “The lorry went past with some big machinery on, hit a load of telephone wires and pulled them down.

“He did not slow down or stop.

“He seemed quite oblivious.”

Eyewitness Carolyn VandenBerg said: “I saw this dirty great lorry slice straight through the lady opposite’s phone line.

“Apparently they took the guttering off the property.”

She added: “It was right in the middle of the Claverham rush hour.

“If it had been a live electricity wire, that would have been horrendous.”

Battle firefighters were called to the scene and in turn contacted both BT and UK Power Networks.

Crew manager Dan Burnett said: “Our concern was even though the telephone lines are low voltage, we do not want anyone picking anything up.”

The oblivious lorry driver carried on his journey, knocking branches from a number of trees before he was pulled over, following a number of calls from concerned residents and motorists.

Police handed the driver a fixed penalty notice of £100 and he was given three points on his driving licence.

He was ordered to adjust and secure the load before he was allowed to continue his journey.