BREAKING NEWS - Full facts of death crash needed before any Mart road safety decisions can be made, council officials say
BOROUGH and county council officials have today insisted it is too early to say whether road safety measures need to be tightened around the Lynn Mart following last night’s fatal accident.
As has been reported, a three-year-old boy died after he was in collision with a car in King Street, close to the Mart site in Tuesday Market Place, yesterday evening.
The tragedy has sparked widespread calls for all roads around the Tuesday Market Place to be closed off while the fair is in town.
An online petition set up in the wake of the incident, demanding all roads are closed around the Mart, had been signed by more than 2,000 people a short time ago.
But officials from both the West Norfolk borough and Norfolk County councils have said the investigation into the cause of the collision should be completed before any decisions are made.
A borough council spokesman said: “We are devastated at the news of this traffic incident and our hearts go out to the family of this young boy at this time.
“The Mart has been coming to town for hundreds of years and has an excellent safety record.
“Every year an organising committee, consisting of the Police, county highways, Norfolk County Council, representatives from the Showmen’s Guild, and the borough council, review the current arrangements. Before the mart opens an inspection is carried out to ensure that all agreed measures have been taken.
“We now await the outcome of the Police investigation into this tragic incident to see if lessons can be learned for the operation of the Mart.”
A county council spokesman said: “This is an awful tragedy, but we really need to find out much more about the causes of the accident before deciding whether there is any action that can be taken. That investigation is being carried out by the police.
“Whenever someone is killed or seriously injured on the roads we work closely with the police to see whether anything can be done to reduce the risk of it happening again. When there is a fatality the inquest findings are also very important.
“Overall, the number of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads is half what it was ten years ago, but tragedies such as this remind us why we must all keep working to reduce that further.”
He added: “On the question of road closures, this is not always straightforward because people have needs and rights of access to businesses, homes and car parks, and there is not always an alternative available.”
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Weather for King's Lynn
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
