Police provide no immediate answers when questioned about bridge-hitting lorries
The town council initially greeted Stuart Ross, one of two new police inspectors for Test Valley, warmly but quickly turned to question him about bridge-hitting lorries.
Bridge-hitting lorries have become a regular sight in Romsey, to the extent that some councillors have started calling it an annual event.
Read more: Another lorry gets stuck under notorious railway bridge in Romsey
Cllr Mark Cooper, who mentioned he had been receiving complaints from his parishioners, said: “Why was there such a negative response from the police when we requested that [lorry] drivers were prosecuted?”
Cllr Cooper informed the inspector that lorry drivers would often escape protection after causing accidents and damage that affected Romsey.
“Do you think there’s a possibility that there will be prosecutions in the future?” He said.
Read more: Romsey bridge lorry crash: 23 lorries strike bridge in 18 years
Inspector Ross told the council that he could not comment on individual cases, but would raise it with the appropriate policing department.
The inspector has been in the police for more than 20 years and has dealt with a range of different crimes, from rural crime to custody and firearms.
He said: “I’m more than happy to take that back to my team and discuss that further.”
Cllr Ian Culley, a former senior crown prosecutor, said: “You can fit that neatly into careless driving, there are other offences that could potentially be committed as well and an aggravating feature is damage to property so this ticks all the boxes.
“It would be nice if these people could be prosecuted and, in the most serious of cases, there’s the potential of disqualification, which would be very effective I’m sure.”
In a later discussion about Railway Bridges, the council requested authorities to do more to prevent over-height vehicles from hitting Romsey’s railway bridges thereby reducing the danger to the public and the risk of major disruption