MrGraeme Giesecke was outraged to discover ‘inconsiderate’ tractor drivers had taken massive chunks out of the road beside his home, near Hoddom, Lockerbie, on Friday last.
Mr Giesecke, who lives at Beckhead Cottages, said: “I was in my bed sleeping but my family were in the living room chatting when they heard a horrendous bang outside like a car crash. It woke me up as well.”
They went out to see two tractors with a Manitou loader in front of them.
He said: “They had been driving along the road and the manitou had started bouncing because of the heavy bucket it was carrying.
“It started bouncing that hard the forks dug into the road, making the bucket dig into the road and rip it from the front of the machine.”
He added: “By the time I got outside they had picked the bucket back up with the machine and drove off – laughing as they went.”
A furious Mr Giesecke rang police and two hours later council officials turned up to investigate the scene. Although the road was repaired later that day,
Mr Giesecke insists that the stretch is marred with similar issues.
He said: “The road is horrendous for fast moving farm machinery and cars. “We had two cats killed in a matter of weeks by drivers, it’s been a long time coming having an accident along this road.
“I don’t even like my daughter playing in the garden alone because she gets scared at the speed of some vehicles coming past and God knows when something might come through the hedge.”
He added: “The council need to put traffic calming measures around houses like this where vehicles come past not ten feet from your front door.
“People say you’re safer living in the country, but on roads like this I don’t think so. Something needs to be done about the speed of farm machinery on these narrow country roads as they’re a law unto themselves.”
Responding, a Dumfries and Galloway Council spokesman said: “Enforcing speed limits is a matter for Police Scotland.”
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