South Teesdsale villagers' anger at 'chaotic' diversion

VILLAGERS are demanding answers after wagons and juggernauts brought gridlock outside their front doors.
Residents in Hutton Magna and Ovington were left dumbstruck when a diversion from the A66 funnelled most of the traffic across the North of England past their homes.
HGVs were forced to negotiate the winding 7.5tonnes limit road from the Winston crossroads in both directions between 8pm and 11pm on Tuesday, May 23 – damaging kerbs, Tarmac and hedges on their way.
One car in Hutton Magna was scraped and dozens of villagers phoned the police and Highways England to complain. Dave Bottoms, from Hutton Magna, couldn’t believe his eyes.
He said: “It’s a single track road and struggles to deal with a lorry and a car. There are some tight bends and they were getting stuck.
“It just came to gridlock and all you could hear was HGVs revving outside – they were mounting the kerbs and pavements.”
Fearing the village’s bridge was under threat, Mr Bottoms phoned the police and a team came out to try to redirect wagon drivers. In Ovington, Peter Levett was home for the evening when lorries starting rolling past.
He said: “It was total chaos here. There was gridlock for miles. The road is not wide enough for two wagons to pass each other – as soon as we got two facing each other and another couple behind them, nothing could move and it just got worse and worse.”
The traffic eased after 9.30pm but picked up again at 11pm when the night freight began to arrive.
Yellow signs alerting motorists to the diversion had been out for a couple of days before the closure.
But Mr Levett said confused wagon drivers were left fuming by the detour and reckoned there was a better route.
He added: “It’s certainly not the easiest route – the Foxberry Road and Little Hutton way would have been easier. There’s a 7.5t limit for a reason because it’s narrow and dangerous.
“Our main concern was the bridge – it took a year and a lot of money to sort out and we had an eight mile diversion to get out of the village last time it was closed.”
A Hutton Magna villager, who did not wish to be named, said the traffic was “horrendous”.
She added: “They were riding down the pavements – it was the only way the juggernauts could pass in both directions. It was just crazy – absolutely crazy.”
Questions over who gave the diversion route the green light still linger.
Mr Bottoms added: “Whoever thought that was a good idea is a half wit.
“If someone thought that was a good decision you would assume someone else would have vetted it and not approved it.”
A spokesperson for Highways England said the diversion was in place for “essential bridge repairs” on the A66 and was likely to be a one-off.
The spokesperson added: “We are aware of the problem of HGVs using the route and will be reviewing our signage to see where any improvements can be made in the future.
“There are no current plans to use this diversion route again.”