Black spot claims cop car

James Cunliffe

Residents were woken in the early hours of Tuesday morning when a police car crashed into their neighbour's house on a notorious bend.

The owners of the Old Turnpike Cottage in Lidlington, Luke and Karen Campelli, were on holiday in Greece when the incident happened.

The police car was responding to an automatic burglar alarm activated in Cranfield.

The two male officers, one suffering from shock and the other from leg and back injuries, were taken to Bedford Hospital.

The bend on the A507 Ampthill Road has seen numerous accidents in recent years, two of them fatal.

In February this year, Terry Miller, 67, found an Astra lodged in his hedgerow.

A year ago, almost to the day, Mr and Mrs Campelli had a lucky escape when a car careered into the front garden narrowly missing their two-year-old granddaughter who had been playing there just minutes before.

Alarmed residents have tried unsuccessfully to get the council to improve the safety of the road.

Mrs Campelli said: "We have been telling the council for years now that something like this was going to happen and now it has.

"I wonder if they will do something about it now!"

Cllr Tom Wootton, cabinet member for highways, said: "There have been three 'slight injury' accidents recoded on this road in the past three years.

"In the summer we completely resurfaced the road which obviously improved its condition and resistence to skidding.

Before the road was resurfaced the raised part of the bend was also checked and was adequate.

"We don't know the exact circumstances of this incident but we understand the police vehicle was answering a blue light call and that the police are carrying out their own investigation.

"With the development coming to the area the whole length of the A507 is being assessed to see what extra traffic measures might be needed to cope with the increased traffic the road is likely to be carrying."