Terling: Is it an emergency?
8:40am Wednesday 6th August 2008
Motorists who end up stranded in a ford after ignoring warning signs should not be rescued by the fire service, according to a village resident.
Paul Harrison of Owls Hill, Terling, says when motorists ignore signs in his village and drive through Terling ford they are acting “foolishly and recklessly” and “effectively attempting to drive their car through a river.”
Mr Harrison said fire service staff should be able to make an “informed judgement” when emergency calls are dealt with and decide if it is an emergency “or someone in distress.”
He said that both sides of the river in Terling are clearly signed “unsuitable for motor vehicles” yet last Thursday he watched the fire service pull a Peugeot saloon out of the ford.
“This is an all too regular occurrence and it must be stopped,” said Mr Harrison.
He has written to Essex County Fire and Rescue, Brooks Newmark, Braintree MP, and Lord Hanningfield, leader of Essex County Council, with his concerns and states that if a fire officer does attend and assesses there is no immediate danger to the motorist, “why cannot the (fire) commander arrange for the car to be extracted from the river by a commercial local vehicle breakdown service?”
Mr Harrison adds: “To avoid favouring any one company a list of suitable commercial companies could be handed to the car driver.”
For the full story see the Witham and Braintree Times.