Safety fears on diversion route after factory fire

There are fears from residents in a city that someone could be killed or seriously injured due to how drivers are using a road, closed for several months due to a fire, as a diversion.

Upper Villiers Street, in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, has been shut to traffic since a fire at a factory in January.

The closure means diverted vehicles are heading along Park Street South, where locals claim they are seeing increasing cases of road rage and dangerous driving.

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal said the authority was not satisfied that the building was structurally safe, and reopening the road would put the public at risk.

Manraj Sanghera said he was hit by a car on the diverted road in June, suffering an injury to his shoulder.

"The family was there. They watched it all, so it was quite distressing," he said.

"All the traffic is coming this way because of the road closure and that's why it's causing so much havoc in the area.

"It's quite dangerous. It could have been an elderly person. There's traffic everywhere, it's just mad."

The Guru Teg Bahadur Gurdwara has a car park on each of the affected roads.

CCTV footage from the temple shows cars beeping their horns as traffic comes to a standstill, due to parked cars on either side of the road making it difficult for other vehicles to get past.

A former MP who is also a trustee of the Gurdwara, Paul Uppal, said: "People are getting cars scratched as well. It's just leading to a lot of stress.

"I think we're getting to a point now where if something isn't done, I genuinely do worry that somebody could possibly be killed.

"Even if there was a one-way option, that would ease some of the congestion."

Balbir Kalair, who runs the Post Office on Upper Villiers Street, said: "My business is going down.

"I don't know how the local businesses survive if the road is closed."

Another resident, Joyleen Mwale, said: "There are no buses coming through, so we've got elderly [people] and children walking all the way from here to town."

Hans Banga has owned the factory for about 20 years, which was gutted by the fire earlier this year.

"There was about 45 units in total. Every single one is destroyed," he said.

"There was probably about 300 people working inside. They all lost their work.

"This is Grade II listed, yes I understand, but there is nothing left to build.

"For the road closure, they're charging me £12,000 plus a month. I can't sleep at night thinking about it. Where am I going to get this money from to pay?"

For the council, Gakhal said: "The council has provided support and advice to the owner, but is not satisfied by the surveyor reports that the building is safe.

"Until it is, the council will continue to recover money from the owner for the road closure – rather than have the taxpayer foot the bill.

The closure would stay in order to keep residents, pedestrians and drivers safe, he added.

"Reopening the road before the site is safe would be irresponsible and, while we fully recognise the disruption the closure is causing, we refuse to put the public at risk," Gakhal added.

"The council is doing everything it can within its legal powers to enable the reopening of the road but it is down to the owners to take necessary steps and put measures in place so specialists are satisfied the building is safe.

"In the meantime, traffic on surrounding roads continues to be monitored."

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