A Sidbury pensioner has been told she will need to build a brick wall if she wants to stop vehicles from colliding into her home.

Sidmouth Herald: Mrs Reed has resorted to putting yellow tape around her drainpipe to make her house more visible.Mrs Reed has resorted to putting yellow tape around her drainpipe to make her house more visible. (Image: Archant)

Mrs Elizabeth Reed, of Church Street, said in the last five years, countless lorries had knocked chinks out the corner of her house with one even ripping out an entire window.

She added since the beginning of this year the drainpipe on the side of her home had been damaged up to five times by passing vehicles.

Mrs Reed, who has lived in her house for more than 70 years, said she was getting really fed up.

“They don’t report it, they just go sailing on.

“The last time they knocked the drainpipe down it cost me £90.

“The police have had to come down to get the lorries out before when they become stuck going around the corner.

“I don’t know why they come down here. I don’t see why they can’t put a sign up saying they can’t.”

Mrs Reed said one lorry clipped an open window and ripped it out completely, leaving her with a bill of up to £300.

“If my son had been in his room he would have been killed,” she added.

“The more they knock into my house the weaker it gets.

“Someone from the council suggested I build a small wall so the vehicles won’t be able to knock into my house but I can’t afford it and they’ll just end up knocking that down.”

County Councillor Stuart Hughes, who is responsible for Highways, said he and a council officers went out to visit Mrs Reed.

He added the problem was because Mrs Reed, along with other residents, were parking their cars too close to the corner.

Cllr Hughes said this was making it hard for larger vehicles in particular to manoeuvre around the bend, pushing them towards Mrs Reed’s home.

He added they had offered to put yellow lines opposite her home to give vehicles more room, fixing the problem, but Mrs Reed refused the offer as it took away parking space.

Cllr Hughes said the only other way to stop vehicles going into her home was to build a dwarf wall.

“We explained what the problem was and how it could be rectified,” he added, “If she doesn’t want to do that, then what are we supposed to do.”