A BOLLARD, installed to protect market traders from injury while taking down their stalls, has had to be removed after an unknown vehicle attempted to drive over it.
The bollard, in the centre of the access road to the cobbles in Barnard Castle, is raised while market traders are closing up their stalls. However, last Wednesday, a motorist drove into the steel column, bending it over.
Eagle eyed council worker Stephen Hill spotted the broken bollard as he was returning to the Birch Road depot.
He said: “I just finished work and spotted it. It’s the not the first one I’ve had to remove and I doubt it will be the last one.”
Michael King, clerk to Barnard Castle Town Council, who run the weekly markets in Barnard Castle, said he was unaware there had been a problem and would raise it with Durham County Council.
A similar bollard on the access road outside Barclays Bank has yet to be replaced after a vehicle with a trailer reversed over it last year.
Mr King said he had no knowledge of the incident and explained the bollards were usually raised once the market barriers were removed to ensure the safety of stallholders as they packed away.
He added: “Barnard Castle Town Council is required to raise the barriers as part of health and safety and can legally stay up until 6pm.”
