BOLLARDS could stop Vinnicombes bakers in Sidmouth High Street being damaged by large lorries.

BOLLARDS could stop Vinnicombes bakers in Sidmouth High Street being damaged by large lorries. Since pavement improvements some years ago, to help the disabled and partially sighted, the road and path are the same level, making it difficult for reversing vehicles to judge where the pavement starts.

Shop owners Sheila and Martin Kerridge had just finished replacing their front windows after a car drove into it in May, when a juggernaut hit it on Friday.

The lorry, which had driven down Mill Street, was trying to turn left towards the seafront.

It damaged a blind, hit, but didn't break, the shop window, and hit a sign on the side of the building.

"The lorry got completely stuck. When he touched the window I screamed at him before he went through it, said Sheila.

"It was the biggest juggernaut I have seen. It stretched right across the road and pavement."

Unable to turn round, the lorry reversed the length of Fore Street to exit the town centre.

"We are nervous every time a lorry or someone starts reversing. I get really worried a lorry will go through the window."

She is most concerned about pedestrians, who often queue outside the busy shop.

"We have been here since 1984 and it was better before the enhancement. We had no problem whatsoever. This will be the third blind we have had in five years because this is happening quite regularly."

A Devon County Council spokesman said: "The matter has been discussed with Vinnicombes and we are currently considering the introduction of bollards at the junction.

"As it is a conservation area, particularly where there are no bollards at present, this needs to be carefully thought through."

The council will discuss with police the enforcement of a width limit in Mill Street to curb the number of large vehicles exiting Mill Street on to High Street.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, DCC cabinet member for highways and transportation, said he wasn't happy to have bollards at an area enhanced for the disabled, but would try to sort out the issue through signage and possibly unloading and loading restrictions near the shop to stop people parking by the Mill Street junction.

"I think SatNav has a lot to blame for this. It highlights the case for pedestrianisation of the town centre," said Mr Hughes, who will consult the traffic management committee if Mrs Kerridge contacts him.