Safety fears as Bedale chapel is hit

Police have warned pedestrians to stay away from the Methodist Chapel in Wycar, Bedale, to ensure masonry does not fall on passers by.

Urgent work to repair it cannot be carried out until mid September because it is on a narrow single road which would have to be closed off or traffic lights installed.

Now questions are being asked about why weight limit signs designed to restrict heavy vehicles using the single lane road have not been installed.

There have been increasing fears Wycar is being used as a rat run through the town following completion of the £34m bypass.

A weight restriction limiting vehicles to 7.5T has been agreed through North Yorkshire County Council's highways department but signs have not been put up.

Bedale councillor John Noone said work was due to be carried out to instal the signs restricting the weight limit by highways, with access where needed such as for vehicles to Atkinsons builders and the Co-op foodstore.

He added: “This has just dragged on and on. The town council has been asking for information about when the signs are going to be installed, but there is some delay.

“Without the weight limit on the road we are stuck to take action. They need to get us scheduled in to ensure the signs are erected, and then perhaps things like this will not happen.”

A resident who lives on the road said the restrictions are desperately needed, adding: “There are just too many HGVs and lorries using it, and it’s too narrow – you can feel the house shaking when they go past. There are real safety concerns because a lot of pedestrians use it too.”

The chapel was closed for months while work was carried out to bring it into the 21st Century, improving access and transforming the interior. It reopened last May but work has continued outside, it’s understood a lorry was turning and struck the side of the building.