South Ribble Council "apologises profusely" after works van tramples on tributes to Bamber Bridge crash victim

Floral tributes to a young man who was recently killed in a crash in Bamber Bridge have been trampled on by a council van, to the fury of his grieving friends.
By Matthew Calderbank
Published 22nd Feb 2021, 18:10 BST
Updated 22nd Feb 2021, 18:29 BST
Flowers and candles left in memory of 20-year-old crash victim Ben Smith, from Walton-le-Dale, were damaged when a South Ribble Borough Council van drove over them on Friday (February 19)Flowers and candles left in memory of 20-year-old crash victim Ben Smith, from Walton-le-Dale, were damaged when a South Ribble Borough Council van drove over them on Friday (February 19)
Flowers and candles left in memory of 20-year-old crash victim Ben Smith, from Walton-le-Dale, were damaged when a South Ribble Borough Council van drove over them on Friday (February 19)

Flowers and candles left in memory of 20-year-old Ben Smith, from Walton-le-Dale, were damaged when a South Ribble Borough Council van drove over them on Friday (February 19).

A council worker had parked in a bay at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre car park where one of the van wheels crushed flowers and candles left in tribute.

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Friends of Ben expressed their outrage on a Facebook community page, prompting a number of complaints to the borough council.

A council worker parked in a bay at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre car park where one of the van wheels crushed some of the tributes to Ben SmithA council worker parked in a bay at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre car park where one of the van wheels crushed some of the tributes to Ben Smith
A council worker parked in a bay at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre car park where one of the van wheels crushed some of the tributes to Ben Smith

Today (Monday, February 22), council leader Paul Foster apologised on behalf of the authority and said an internal investigation has been launched.

He said: "This is unacceptable behaviour and we apologise profusely to Ben’s family, friends and those across the community who have been affected by this.

"We completely understand the anger, upset and frustration caused which is why we shared our apologies with the community on the “Proud to be a Brigger” Facebook page as soon as we were made aware of the incident and launched an internal investigation to get to the bottom of what happened."

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Councillor Matthew Trafford, who represents Lostock Hall, went to school with Ben and was one of many in the community to speak out.

"I went to both primary and high school with Ben so totally understand and agree with the upset at this," he said.

"I’m one of the Councillors for Lostock Hall on South Ribble Borough Council and I have put a complaint in and will try to make sure this is looked into.

"Everyone upset is completely right to be annoyed and I’ll be raising this with our staff."

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Ben Smith was killed in Station Road, Bamber Bridge on February 11 after a Ford Transit van crashed into him whilst he was riding an e-scooter.

Samuel Bretherton, 25, of Mellor Road, Leyland has been charged with his murder.

You can read tributes to Ben Smith, from his family and friends, here.

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