Six cars hit by Leicester's new rising bollards in two weeks
Drivers have been warned to beware of a network of rising bollards in Leicester city centre after six vehicles were hit in the space of a fortnight.Leicester City Council has replaced existing bollards and installed new ones in 18 locations surrounding the pedestrian zone in the city centre over the last few months.Since they were reactivated two weeks ago, six vehicles have collided with the bollards, five of which were damaged. A council spokesman says CCTV has shown all the vehicles hit had tailgated others and issued a reminder for motorists to follow the rules when passing through the rising barriers.
In the latest incidents, two vehicles collided with the rising bollards in High Street in quick succession on Thursday morning. The first, a silver Mitsubishi SUV was left with a blown out tyre, while the second, an Audi A6, appeared to be more seriously damaged, with debris and electrical wires left on the road after the impact.One eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said: "The bollards are really sturdy, like they're an anti-terrorist measure. "They've not been working for a long time and a lot of people don't know what to do when they drive up to them. "If people drive up to them when a car is already going through, they don't realise they need to stop."
A Leicester City Council spokesperson pointed out there were red signs at the bollards warning drivers not to tailgate others. He said: "There have been six incidents of vehicles colliding with the new automatic bollards since they came into operation two weeks ago, resulting in damage to five of the vehicles. "In each case, CCTV evidence shows that the driver was tailgating, and that the warning light was on red."We are content that the new system is working as intended. Signage is in place warning drivers to be careful and avoid tailgating at each of the sites, along with stop and go lights and audio warnings."Around 800 to 900 vehicles will enter the city centre pedestrian zone through the new automatic bollards on a typical weekday."However, extra yellow temporary signs warning motorists not to tailgate were put in place at the bollards in High Street on Friday afternoon.
The council has issued the following directions and guidance for all motorists in relation to the rising bollards: Only residents, businesses and drivers making deliveries are allowed to pass through and need to use a PIN code to gain entry outside allowable hours.The allowable hours are 05:00 to 11:00, except on Saturdays when the hours are reduced to between 05:00 and 09:00.One-time use PIN codes can be issued to those with legitimate reasons for accessing the zone outside of the allowable hours.The automatic bollards rise immediately after a vehicle has entered the pedestrian zone to prevent tailgating and warning signs and red lights are in place to alert drivers of the risk. The bollards will only allow one vehicle through at a time. After entering the code to retract the bollard, every driver should wait for the green light and must not chance it by tailgating the previous vehicle.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Allegations of rape at rowing club ‘deeply concerning' say Sport England and UK Sport
Allegations of rape and harassment at one of Britain's most prestigious rowing clubs have been described as 'deeply concerning' by Sport England and UK Sport. Both funding bodies have raised their concerns with British Rowing after the Telegraph reported there had been three separate alleged rape incidents involving male rowers within the past five years at the Leander Club, which supplied more than half of Team GB's rowers at the Paris Olympics. According to the Telegraph, the women rowers at the club had taken to wearing white ribbons and pink vests in 2024 to protest against what was described as 'the worst-kept secret in British rowing', and that several male members also joined them in protest. In a statement, Sport England, the funding body of grassroots sport in England, said it had raised the matter with British Rowing and urged the victims to go to the police. 'These are deeply concerning allegations regarding both behaviours and cultures, and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted,' it said. 'It is vital that sports clubs are safe and welcoming, and that all issues are investigated swiftly and properly. 'We encourage any individual who has experienced such behaviour to report directly to the police. Sport England has raised this matter with British Rowing, and we will continue to monitor the situation.' A similar message was conveyed by UK Sport, which funds elite sport across Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 'Our thoughts are with those affected by the allegations which have recently been reported, and we take matters of integrity and safeguarding extremely seriously,' it said. 'We encourage any member of staff or athlete on Olympic and Paralympic performance programmes to report allegations of unacceptable behaviour to Sport Integrity, the confidential reporting line. In light of these deeply concerning allegations, we are in contact with British Rowing.' In a statement, the Leander Club said it took seriously all issues relating to the safeguarding its athletes. 'We have strict procedures in place to carefully examine any formal complaints and regularly review our club disciplinary processes to ensure they are fit for purpose, treating our athletes fairly and with respect,' it added. A British Rowing spokesperson said it was not able to comment on individual safeguarding concerns and processes conducted at clubs owing to their confidential nature. 'As such there is a very limited amount that we can say when we are approached in connection with issues that fall into this category,' it added. 'What we are able to say categorically is that the safety of people taking part in our sport is the very first item of importance on our agenda. We investigate anything reported to us fully and comprehensively, as you would expect and as it is our remit to do. This would have been the case if sufficient information had been raised with us to conduct an investigation in respect of the raised allegations.'
Sky News
21 minutes ago
- Sky News
Three alleged Iranian spies appear at Old Bailey
Three Iranian nationals charged with spying offences have appeared in court. Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, charged with offences under the National Security Act. They are alleged to have targeted journalists working for Iran International, an independent media organisation based in London. They are all charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist the Iranian foreign intelligence service between 14 August 2024 and 16 February 2025. They arrived in the UK between 2016 and 2022 by irregular means, including by small boats and a lorry, and appeared in court via video link. They spoke through a Farsi translator to confirm their identities. Sepahvand, of St John's Wood, is also charged with engaging in surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research, with the intention of committing serious violence against a person in the UK. Manesh, of Brent, and Noori, of Ealing, are additionally charged with surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that serious violence would be committed by others against a person in the UK. The plea hearing for the three men will take place on 26 September, and a provisional trial date has been set for 5 October 2026, according to Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb. The UK government summoned Iran's ambassador after the men were arrested on 3 May, saying Iran "must be held accountable for its actions". The men were arrested on the same day as five other Iranian nationals, who were taken into custody as part of an entirely separate investigation. Four of those men remain in custody and were arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. A fifth, a 24-year-old man in the Manchester area, was released on bail. Last October, MI5 director general Ken McCallum said the UK intelligence agency had responded to 20 "potentially lethal" Iran-backed plots since 2022, warning of the risk of an "increase or broadening of Iranian state aggression in the UK".
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
M&S food sales growth collapses after cyber attack
Rapid growth at Marks & Spencer's food business has ground to a halt after the retailer was struck by a devastating cyber attack that left shelves empty. New figures seen by The Telegraph show that spending in M&S's food halls rose by 0.8pc in the four weeks to May 17 compared with a year earlier. The data covered a period when the retailer was in the initial throes of the hack. It marks a major slowdown from the rampant growth experienced by the retailer over the past year. According to the unpublished figures from analysts at NIQ, grocery spending at M&S had been up by 11pc in the 12 months to May 17. It has consistently ranked among the fastest-growing supermarkets in recent months. The NIQ data showed M&S sold fewer items in the four weeks to May 17 compared with the same period last year and its market share slipped to 3.3pc, compared with 3.6pc in the year as a whole. M&S slipped below Waitrose in the ranks of the largest grocers as a result, having overtaken the retailer for the first time in November. Previous figures had suggested M&S had escaped a major hit from the cyber attack. Separate data from Kantar recently suggested that M&S grocery sales rose by 8pc in the four weeks to May 18 and by 12.3pc in the 12 weeks to the same date. Kantar uses a different methodology, which does not include grocery sales from delivery apps such as Deliveroo. The NIQ survey data shed fresh light on the effect of the cyber attack that has crippled M&S. M&S was forced to halt online orders in mid-April after being struck by a cyber incident, which also disrupted food deliveries into stores. It led to gaps on shelves and forced the retailer to pause some offers in some stores. The attack has been blamed on criminal gang Scattered Spider. Stuart Machin, M&S's chief executive, was reportedly directly contacted by the hackers, with an abuse-filled email seen by the BBC allegedly showing hackers gloated about the attack. M&S declined to comment on the report. Seven weeks after the company disclosed the attack, it is still battling to bring its IT systems back online. M&S has not yet brought back online orders, with disruption expected to continue until July. The retailer has already admitted that the attack will knock an estimated £300m off its profits this year, dealing a setback to Mr Machin's efforts to rapidly grow the retailer. Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital, said the hit to food sales was to be 'wholly expected post the cyber incident, when considerable disruption to store operations was evident, meaning lots of gaps at time, famine and feast in terms of product coming into stores managed by manual rather than automated processes'. However, he suggested M&S was likely to experience a 'robust bounce back' once the IT issues were resolved. Richard Hyman, a partner at Aria Intelligent Solutions, added: 'If there was ever a good time for this to happen to M&S, it's now when they're in a position of strength. If this had happened several years ago, I think that one would be much more worried about them.' A spokesman for M&S said: 'We have made good progress in growing our food business and gaining market share over the long term. The most recent Kantar report shows market share growth of over 12pc, which is ahead of the market and underlines our resilience. 'Our stores are back to normal for our customers and have been for some time. We are getting on with providing the best quality products and service for our customers. In fact, just this week, we have launched 100 new or upgraded M&S Food products for summer.'
