Residents and road-users are calling for action to improve safety following two serious crashes involving lorries in London Road, Stone.

Last week a motorcyclist was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after he crashed into a lorry, just months after a crash in which a man was killed on the same stretch of road when his car collided with a lorry.

With the motorcyclist still in a serious condition this week, residents are demanding action, with Elisha Bardoe leading the way by setting up a petition to bring in parking restrictions.

"I live locally to where these incidents have happened and I feel it's very unsafe for all drivers and riders and pedestrians," she said. "I feel that something needs to be put in place for lorries to park in suitable areas.

"It's not a very well lit area, when the lorries are parked either side of the road and the speed limit is 40 mph, you'll find that the lorries restrict everyone's view, especially in the dark.

"People can't see on the brow of a hill what is the other side.

"My main priority, what I'm aiming for is to stop and prevent any more incidents happening.

"There's been enough - lives can be saved and things can be put in place. "

Motorcyclist Laura Gurney, who also lives nearby, said the road was especially dangerous for bikers.

"It's scary," she said. "It's worse on a bike. You've got no cage around you, no air bags that can help protect you.

"It's dark, it's not well lit at all, especially on the dip before the hill.

"It's not what it should be around here. It's residential but it's a 40mph road - I know people are trying to get that changed but this is a big issue now."

Stone House ward councillor Kelly Grehan said she would be pushing further for parking restrictions and for a new lorry park to be built in Kent.

"This has come about as a result of negligence by the government," she said. "Two years ago we were promised there would be some sort of lorry park in Kent and last year Chris Grayling said he would be consulting on such a thing. Nothing has happened, I'm not sure what it's going to take for something to happen.

"Clearly we sympathise, the lorry drivers need to go somewhere to eat to sleep to rest etc for their safety and everyone else's but with them coming here every night it's making us unsafe so really we want action from the government and we want it soon.

She added: "I'll be going to Stone Parish Council, which I'm a member of and asking them to lobby the government for a lorry park and maybe some parking restrictions along this road so people can't park all day and all night and block up the road and then I'll be taking it further to Dartford Borough Council as well.

"Ideally it would be very quick but unfortunately what we find with KCC and with all levels of government is that nothing is very quick and it takes a lot of work and a lot of lobbying, so I'll be pushing, and I'm sure other councillors and resident will be pushing for the same thing. Unfortunately I don't see anything happening soon because we've already been waiting two years for a promised lorry park to even get a site and we haven't even got close.

"It's going to take a lot of pushing but we're not going to stop."

Nicola Chapman of the Freight Transport Association said: "The challenge we have in Kent is that we have a real shortage of spaces for drivers to stop and take their legal breaks, so really the solution to all of the problems, both for the lorry drivers and for the local residents is we really need more lorry parking facilities."

KCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Michael Payne said: “Inappropriate lorry parking in Kent is a problem that many towns and rural communities face and it is something we take seriously.

“Surveys have shown that on average there are over 800 lorries parked on Kent’s roads each night.

“We will continue to work with a range of public and private partners to seek solutions to the issue of lorry parking in the county to help rid our residential streets, industrial estates and laybys of inappropriate and sometimes illegal lorry parking.

“We also seek the enforcement powers from government to prevent inappropriate roads being used by heavy goods vehicles in Kent.”

According to crash website www.crashmap.co.uk there have been five serious accidents and 40 minor crashes on the stretch of road in the past five years.

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