Guild Wheel safety fears after piling rig toppled in road

Road contractors had to be called when a piling rig tipped over and blocked both sides of the road on D’Urton Lane, Preston at 3pm on Monday and Peter Ward says he still believes construction vehicles shouldn’t be allowed on the cycling and walking route.

“This is meant to be a safe route for cyclists and walkers and incidents like this mean it isn’t,” he said. “It’s a good job this wasn’t early in the morning or after school when there could have been lots of children cycling home.

“It could have forced them to use other routes home, which aren’t as safe as the Guild Wheel. It could have ended in someone getting hurt.

“I just hope this incident comes as a warning and something is done to make sure the route is kept safe. The idea of the Guild Wheel is that traffic, cyclists and pedestrians don’t mix - for everyone’s safety.”

And now construction company Hochtief, which owns the rig, says it is looking into the cause of the incident.

A spokesman for the company said: “On Monday at around 3pm, our piling rig fell over on its way to our A6, Broughton Bypass site.

“We are now carrying out an investigation into the cause of the incident. The vehicle will also be assessed but no-one was harmed during the incident.

“We are unable to comment further until the investigation has finished.”

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “We were called around 3.40pm on Monday, July 18 to reports of highway disruption in D’Urton Lane, Broughton.

“A machine had fallen off a blue Scania lorry and was blocking traffic in both lanes.

“Roadwork contractors helped to remove the obstruction.”