Ashley Road was forced to come to a standstill on Tuesday, when a Vauxhall Corsa fell into a hole made for drain works. The front left wheel of the silver vehicle became stuck in the hole after a heavy steel plate used to cover it, failed to do it’s job.  There had been workmen in this area only an hour beforehand. The temporary plate is usually capable of and was designed to cope with traffic speeds of 50 mph, however it was obviously unsuccessful this time around. It remains unknown as to how the plate’s position was adjusted, but the Surrey County Council is looking into this in further detail.

 

The event occurred at the beginning of rush hour, at around 5 o’clock, when the traffic was beginning to reach its peak. Surrey Police Officers arrived at the scene soon after the incident and the road was shut to prevent further accidents occurring.

 

Major traffic problems arose throughout Walton causing many disgruntled members of the public to take detours on their routes home from work. One Walton resident had this to say: “I was on my way to Walton when I discovered that Ashley Road had been closed. So, I had to turn around and go through Weybridge where there was also traffic, which was probably a knock-on effect. This added an extra 30 unnecessary minutes to my journey. I really hope that this will spur the council on to review and repair the state of our local roads.” Fortunately no injuries were sustained from the incident.

 

A Surrey County Council Spokesman has reportedly apologised on behalf of the Council for any inconveniences that may have been caused; he also said that the movement of the heavy steel plate is being investigated.

 

Henry Edwards, Halliford School