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23
Jan
Police blame six-car pile-up near Harrogate on blocked drain the council ignored
North Yorkshire Council appears to have questions to answer after police blamed a six-car crash on a blocked drain that the council knew about – but had failed to clear.
The pile-up happened at about 8am on January 16 near Timble in the Washburn Valley, on a country road leading to Fewston Reservoir.
Where the incident occurred. Image: Google.
Two of the cars overturned and another ended up on the bonnet of one of the others. Only one minor injury was reported.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:
The collision occurred as a result of ice across the road and spanning downhill; the ice was caused by an overflowing blocked drain.
The council’s highways team took over the scene and was actioning gritters and unblocking the drain. The road was clear shortly after 1pm.
Two cars ended up on their sides
A local resident, who wished to remain anonymous, witnessed the immediate aftermath of the incident. He told the Stray Ferret:
The emergency services seemed to throw everything they had at it: four police cars, three ambulances and the fire service. There were six cars involved in the crash, so they probably feared the worst.
Quite frankly, it’s a bit of a miracle that no-one was seriously hurt.
Three ambulances attended the scene
But attention has turned to North Yorkshire Council, because according to its website, the drain had been reported as blocked on January 7 – nine days before the crash happened. Council workers inspected the drain that day, but took no action.
There is also confusion over when exactly the council eventually unblocked the drain. The police report said the council’s highways team started unblocking immediately after the crash, but it appears it may have actually happened later.
Graham Hebblethwaite, the chairman of Washburn Parish Council, told the Stray Ferret he inspected the area the day after the crash. He said:
I saw an overflowing highway drain causing water to run across the road to another drain slightly higher up the road from where the accident happened. We had not had rain the days previously.
At once I reported the blocked gully online. Nine days prior, the drain head had been reported, North Yorkshire Council inspected and responded with no further action.
I continued to report it, late afternoon the following morning, a gully clearance had been authorised.
The blocked drain still overflowing after the crash
According to the anonymous local resident, the council’s highways team finally unblocked the drain on Tuesday (January 21) – two weeks after it was first reported.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council why no action was taken to unblock the drain either on January 7, when the problem was first reported, or at any time during the nine days between that date and the crash.
A council spokesperson told us:
The gully was inspected on January 7 and no blockage was identified. The accident occurred on January 17 at a time when our roads were experiencing a thaw following the heavy snow and the cold weather.
It is therefore possible the capacity of the gully could have been affected following surface water run-off from the surrounding land following the snowmelt.
We can confirm that the area was gritted and had been actioned to be treated that morning.
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