A pensioner has called for improvements at a busy roundabout regularly damaged by lorries after his car almost hit fallen masonry lying in the middle of the road.

In the incident, 78-year-old William Johnson had to brake suddenly to avoid striking large pieces of stone that had fallen from the roundabout wall after being hit by a lorry.

And the car behind almost slammed into the back of his vehicle as he came to a halt.

The roundabout in Caroline Square, Skipton, has been damaged on numerous occasions by heavy goods vehicles turning off the town’s High Street.

“It wouldn’t matter if it was a one-off, but it keeps happening,” he said. “It was only a week or two ago that it was last rebuilt and now it’s been damaged again – it’s ridiculous.

“It’s a question of safety and then there’s the issue of who pays for it. Is it the taxpayer who’s paying for it every time the roundabout has to be rebuilt?” Highways bosses say they are planning to modify the roundabout within the next fortnight.

Dave Wilson, Skipton area highways maintenance manager, said: “The roundabout has been struck on a number of occasions and as a result the stonework has become progressively weaker.

"Where before the lorries would have scraped along the stonework and not caused much real damage, now they are pulling the stones out and into the road.

“We’re going to rebuild the wall so it becomes more of an immovable object. This will mean lorries striking the roundabout will not cause as much damage.”

  • Read the full story in Tuesday's T&A