Elland business left counting the cost of irresponsible lorry drivers

Orchard Energy, based on Park Road, Elland, has had a number of incidents in its car park over the last few years as a result of the lack of clear signage for the bridge which they say has cost the company thousands of pounds.

The company is located approximately 100 metres away from the bridge and the car park entrance is often the first place for large vehicles to turn around in when lorry drivers realise the bridge is too low to go under.

Damage caused by lorries turning or reversing into Orchard House include the original 1870’s stone gate posts being knocked over and employees’ cars being hit.

Amar Hussain, managing director of Orchard Energy, said turning lorries can often take 20 minutes to manoeuver away from the bridge causing long tail backs to form on Park Road.

“Over the past year alone the gate posts at Orchard Energy have been hit three times and cost our business thousands of pounds to restore the stonework," said Mr Hussain.

“The bridge is close to the A629 where lots of lorries go to connect to the motorway and we now have multiple lorries using our car park to turn around most days.

“At the moment, there isn’t sufficiently clear low bridge warning signs until you actually reach the bridge but there needs to be much better signage to make drivers of high vehicles aware so they can find another route.”