Van blocks road for around eight hours after wheel falls off

A van blocked Fore Street in Kingsbridge yesterday for nearly eight hours after a wheel fell off. 

The van broke down on Fore Street at around 8am on Wednesday morning and a diversion was out in place sending traffic along Mill Street and round. 

Updates every few hours said the van was still there and the road was still closed. 

Finally at around 5pm, the van was finally moved. We spoke to the man who finally got Kingsbridge moving again - Ollie Woods. 

Ollie said: "Around 3pm, I was called by a neighbours son-in-law for help as he went to help himself and couldn't do anything with it. I turned up to find the bottom ball joint had popped out, pulling the drive shaft out.

"I spent some time getting the drive shaft back in then sat the ball joint back in and strapped it together to crawl up the road to the owner's home. The guy commented saying of all the friends he has in the town, two strangers were the ones to help.

"He had two recovery vans turn up from the AA in the morning and say they couldn't do anything and left. So he was waiting for a recovery truck."

Traders on Fore Street mentioned how their business had been affected by the road closure, just proving how important the flow of traffic and people up the hill really is to Kingsbridge.

A spokesperson for Kingsbridge Town Council said: "The Town Council was informed early yesterday of the van which had broken down in Fore Street. We contacted Devon County Council, reported the situation, and the decision was taken to close the road and divert traffic via Mill Street and Lower Union Road.

"The Police were also informed. Unfortunately the driver of the van was incredibly let down by his recovery company and in the late afternoon the vehicle was fixed in the middle of the highway. So it was a frustrating day and traders lost deliveries and footfall. However, thankfully nobody was injured."