SANDBAGS are being used to prop up the foundations of a section of a Gorleston road that has been affected by erosion.Signs warn of subsidence and car drivers are being forced to park perilously close to a crater left when another section of Riverside Road collapsed.

SANDBAGS are being used to prop up the foundations

of a section of a Gorleston road that has been affected by erosion.

Signs warn of subsidence and car drivers are being forced to park perilously close to a crater left when another section of Riverside Road collapsed.

Now, local people have voiced their fears that any lorry carrying a heavy weight along the road might topple into the water.

A walk along Riverside Road reveals startling evidence of the damage done by the tidal River Yare, which floods the road during seasonal higher-than- average tides.

Towards the lifeboat station end, a section of concrete has collapsed, taking part of the wire-mesh fence with it, behind a row of residents' parking spaces on the beach side. Signs warn of the danger of subsidence.

Similar erosion has also taken place at the other end, where the former Darby's Hard boat repair yard stood, with sandbags providing support to the road surface where foundations once stood.

A new action group, The Friends

of Riverside Road, has been

formed by locals to call for the road to be protected against the ravages of tidal waters. One of its founder-members, Barry Tough, said he understood that Norfolk County Council owned the side of the road furthest away from the river, while Great Yarmouth Borough Council was responsible for the river side.

He added: “We are just concerned that one of these days a lorry with a heavy weight will use that section of road and topple into the river.

“The higher the tide is, it washes right under the road.

“It will only take one big tide and something serious will happen.”

Mr Tough, who lives in Riverside Road with his wife Janet, said the Friends group was planning to take other action by seeking permission to spruce up the area around the Darby's Hard site itself.

The group has just four members at the moment but is looking to recruit 30 or more from the Riverside Road

area to help with its planned improve-ments.

Borough council spokesman Steve Reilly said: “We are aware of local residents' concerns and have met with them to discuss the matter. We are also working closely with Norfolk County Council, who manage the highway.

“The county council don't feel that the highway is at immediate risk from the erosion, but we are jointly monitoring the site to ensure that, if the erosion impacts on the highway, measures are put in place to ensure that no one using the road is at risk.

“We are also discussing longer-term options with residents - looking

at how we can maintain and enhance the area.

“But, like many things in the current climate, it would be dependent on funding as to what measures could be taken.”

To contact the Friends of Riverside Road, call Mr Tough on 01493 667148 or the group's secretary Pauline Dodds on 01493 442807.