'That doesn't tell me it's safe' - Overturned lorry adds to councillors' concerns over safety of a major Rugby road

An overturned lorry which caused chaos on Rugby' s Leicester Road yesterday, December 15, has caused further concern for the safety of the busy stretch of road.

The incident occurred yesterday afternoon on the roundabout where the road meets with Newton Manor Lane and Lower Lodge Avenue.

One resident told the Advertiser there were chaotic scenes, with the road being shut from afternoon to evening and many vehicles coming off the M6 and attempting to drive into Rugby having to turn around.

The resident said: "Eventually several heavy cranes arrived to right the lorry again.

"Because it was soft-skinned, as it was lifted the 40 tonnes of plastic it was carrying to be recycled spilled out onto the road.

"There was a lot of diesel too, they'd put absorbent material on the road but it still stank to high heaven.

"This is not the first time I've seen this happen at that roundabout."

The incident comes after several Rugby councillors raised concerns over the safety of that stretch of Leicester Road.

Earlier this month a driver struck a schoolboy after running a red light on the crossing at the Tesco roundabout.

Thankfully the boy was not injured - but the driver sped off without checking.

This prompted Cllrs Jim Ellis and Ram Srivastava to contact county councillor Sarah Feeney, with the three of them working together to see what could be done.

After the three spoke with the county council, it was agreed that a camera to monitor red-light jumping and speeding be installed at the crossing in the new year.

Cllr Ellis welcomed this step, but his concern for the safety of much of that stretch of road remains - especially after yesterday's incident.

No evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the lorry driver has been presented to this newspaper, and Cllr Ellis made it clear he does not know who was to blame for the incident.

He said: "I don't know what happened but I can only speculate.

"It's my view that this road's character has changed and speeds are being exceeded.

"With the increased residential estates to the South and also at Eden Park, I found this rather alarming.

"Only yesterday did I speak to Warwickshire County Council officers and we managed to get some monitoring which will be installed in the new year, but here today we have a very lethal situation which could quite possibly have lead to death if people had been in the area.

"Warwickshire County Council offices told me that the data says this road is safe.

"I am grateful for the monitoring and I hope that they change their mind on the data because when you see an overturned lorry that doesn't tell me it's safe."