HIGHWAYS departments in Somerset and Devon have agreed to work together to solve problems caused by huge lorries getting stuck in narrow one-track lanes on the Blackdown Hills.

Parishes complain of articulated lorries damaging bridges, house guttering and overturning. Residents say lorries do not follow designated routes and use inaccurate sat-navs.

Somerset has put signs on its border saying many roads are unsuitable for lorries but Devon feels too many signs are in place. Several parishes have resorted to buying their own signs saying lorries are not welcome.

Now two MPs have promised to try and sort out a co-ordinated scheme for the hills which straddle the Somerset-Devon border.

Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, chaired a meeting in Clayhidon last week attended by members of the Blackdown Hills Parish Network (BHPN) steering group, councillors from Clayhidon and Hemyock, Devon County Council chairman Ray Radford, Mid Devon councillor Frank Rosamond and officers from Devon and Somerset highways departments. Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, was unable to be present.

It was agreed to hold another meeting in six months, on October 15.

For the full story see this week’s Wellington Weekly News.