A BID to banish heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) from using a busy stretch of road linking Sidmouth to Ottery St Mary has been scrapped by highways chiefs.

A BID to banish heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) from using a busy stretch of road linking Sidmouth to Ottery St Mary has been scrapped by highways chiefs.

The C808, which runs from the Bowd Inn to Ottery, has been labelled as "totally unsuitable" for HVGs and large vehicles by county and district councillor Roger Giles.

Cllr Giles wanted the route removed from satellite navigation systems (SATNAV) as

bulky vehicles are too often getting into trouble and holding up traffic on the road, which is single track in numerous spots.

In 2004 a motorcyclist was tragically killed in an accident, involving a coach, on the road in Wiggaton.

Cllr Giles said: "In 2005 a coach taking Sidmouth College students to Plymouth got stuck on its way to pick up pupils from The King's School"

"I arranged that an advisory sign saying 'unsuitable for wide vehicles' be erected at the junction of the A3052 and the B3176 at the Bowd. The situation has not improved, and indeed may have worsened, probably as a result of increased use of SATNAV systems."

Members of the East Devon Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) have decided that formal restrictions on vehicles would be impractical and too expensive to implement. Members did agree to raise the issue with road transport representatives.