Resident’s fury after house hit by truck

A CITY resident has been left fuming after a truck crashed into her house – five years after she started calling for safety improvements to the “nightmare” road.

Planning consultant Suzanne McIntosh, 43, was in her Bath Street home at around 9.30am on Monday when a Co-op delivery truck reversed into the property.

She said: “When the lorry struck it was like an earthquake, the whole house shook. My seven-year-old son, Marvin, was hysterical.

“The masonry has been knocked off and the guttering and fascia slates damaged. It was horrific.”

It appeared as if the driver had reached a dead end at the top of the street, reversed and collided with the property after mounting the kerb, said Suzanne.

She added: “I’ve been speaking to the council about this since 2007, telling them that this road is a nightmare.

“My house has already had a bit of masonry knocked off.

“The number of times I have seen children with scooters at the side of the road and I have told them to move elsewhere as a lorry could come up on the pavement – there’s going to be a fatality.”

Suzanne said a height and weight restriction should be put in place.

While many of the lorries are making deliveries to nearby businesses, other drivers have become lost on the way to Bath Road in Leith or believe that Portobello’s adjoining Straiton Place is the home of Straiton Retail Park.

A railing put up in March to stop cars mounting the pavement was knocked over by a vehicle just a month later.

Suzanne said: “There is talk of putting up bollards to stop cars mounting the pavement but that wouldn’t have prevented this.

“It’s driving us mad and I can see a point, if this goes on, where we might have to move away.”

Portobello councillor Mike Bridgeman, who has been working towards finding a solution, said: “This road is not designed for HGVs. If deliveries have to be made, they should be made in vans.”

Speaking on behalf of the city council, Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “We’ve been working with the community to improve parking and access arrangements in the area but no clear consensus has emerged on the best way forward.

“As well as residents, there are local businesses that rely on being able to receive deliveries, which will sometimes mean large trucks using the area.

“We’ll continue to see what improvements can be made, on top of the 20mph speed limit.”

A Co-op spokesman said: “We can confirm a Co-op food distribution vehicle was involved in an incident at a property in Bath Street, 
Edinburgh.

“We will visit the site to assess any damage caused but until our investigations are complete it would be inappropriate to comment further.”