South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon has asked Mr Mike Taylor, the head of the Budgens supermarket chain, why a Poringland family are still waiting for a wall outside their home to be rebuilt nearly two months after it was demolished by a Budgens lorry.

The Skepelhorn family have lived on Overtons Way in Poringland since 2001. When the Budgens supermarket was constructed two years later, large articulated lorries began to use the narrow residential street to make deliveries.

In July this year, a brick wall outside the Skepelhorn’s home was destroyed by a lorry trying to turn into the supermarket’s delivery yard.

Luckily, no-one was hurt, but the Skepelhorns have since faced an uphill struggle to get the wall repaired.  Budgens’ insurers – Zurich International – have passed them around call centres in Southampton, Portsmouth, Newcastle and the Isle of Man, with no-one seemingly willing or able to rectify the problem.

Mr Bacon said today.

“Overtons Way is a narrow residential street and is clearly unsuitable for heavy articulated lorries.  Local residents knew this was an accident waiting to happen and if the Skepelhorn’s young daughter been playing in their front yard at the time, she could have been seriously injured or even killed”.

“Nearly six months have now gone by since the accident and the wall is still in ruins.  It really is not good enough.  Budgens are clearly at fault and I have asked Mr Taylor to arrange for the wall to be rebuilt at once”.

“I will also be asking him to look at the layout of the store’s delivery yard in order to stop this from happening again”.

15 September 2006