A TRAIL of destruction caused by a car crash has seen renewed calls for safety measures on a busy Worcester road.

Residents of Bromwich Road, St John’s, were left picking up the pieces when a car ploughed into a telegraph pole, damaged several vehicles and demolished garden walls just before midnight on Sunday.

Phone lines to 20 homes were also knocked out.

The occupants of the car had a lucky escape, suffering only minor injuries, and one person was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital for further treatment.

The road was closed for four hours while BT engineers removed telephone wires to make the pole safe.

Householders have told the Worcester News the stretch of road near the Lower Wick Trading Estate was an accident blackspot.

One of the affected residents, Robert Orgee, who has lived at his home in Bromwich Road for 48 years, said there had been five crashes into the front of his and the neighbouring property over the past 30 years.

The 74-year-old, whose car, garage and garden wall were damaged, said: “We get used to it now. Some cars come speeding around the corner. We’d like a speed camera or something to slow drivers down. It was a good job nobody was walking down the road.”

Neighbour Garry Tomlins described the road as a “racetrack” at times.

The 49-year-old said: “There was this big bang – the car had hit my van and its back window was inside it. I’ve lived here 27 years and I’ve seen about 10 accidents along here in that time. We had a car sideways in our driveway after it hit a pushbike.

“Speed is an issue – it’s like a racetrack at night. With the amount of accidents, I’m amazed no one has been killed.”

Tracey Davies, who four years ago awoke to find a car on its side in her driveway after it crashed in the same area of Bromwich Road, urged Worcestershire County Council to take action.

She said: “The way me and other neighbours feel is that somebody’s going to get seriously hurt before they do something. The only saving grace is that there was no one around at that time of night.”

Worcestershire County Council confirmed it had received and responded to a number of letters from residents over the summer months and the Safer Roads Partnership was aware of their concerns.

Jon Fraser, Worcestershire County Council's customer and community manager for highways, said: “We are unable to make any detailed comment until we receive the report from the police, but we can confirm that the duty engineer attended the site yesterday to assist at the request of the police.”

Jason Mann, a spokesman for BT, said about 15 homes were affected when engineers had to cut 15 telephone wires because they were hanging in the road.

He added it was likely to be days before lines were reinstated as specialist equipment was needed to replace the damaged pole.

Police were not looking for witnesses as the Worcester News went to press.

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