Somerset Council contractor lorry sinks into road during repairs
The council said that the vehicle was recovered the following day
A lorry owned by Somerset Council’s main highways contractor got stranded on the Somerset Levels on Wednesday (October 21) during repairs to a local road.
The vehicle belonging to Heidelberg Materials was delivering stone for resurfacing work on Butleigh Drove, which runs from the outskirts of Street to the small hamlet of Nythe near a local solar farm.
Anthony Lipmann, who lives in the nearby village of Pedwell, captured images of the vehicle sinking into the soft ground on the side of the narrow road – describing it as “a monument to the folly of Somerset highways management and all who sail in her”.
The council said that the vehicle was recovered on Thursday (October 22) but would not confirm how much this has cost the taxpayer.
This is not the first time that such a heavy vehicle has become stranded on this part of the Levels and Moors, on a road which had been “notionally closed” for two years.
In mid-May, a lorry owned by the ironically named Stabilised Pavements had to be abandoned on the same road after it sank and tilted over at a 45-degree angle.
Mr Lipmann described the former incident as “an omni-shambles” and said this newest incident was unsurprising given the soft, peat-filled ground on which the road sits.
He explained: “This is a road used by a maximum of two to three vehicles per day, most of which involve tractors and farm vehicles; it would not appear to have been a prime candidate for the council’s diminishing funds.
“The area is classified as deep peat, being 30-50cm of soft organic matter built up over the last 300-500 years.
“Peat is more than 50 per cent organic material, and is by its nature soft. It is not meant to be the substructure of a highway for today’s monster tractors, but is better suited to the horse and carts of yore.”
The council’s official roadworks portal indicates that resurfacing work will be carried out along the length of Butleigh Drove until Thursday (October 29).
Mr Lipmann questioned whether this was a sensible use of taxpayers’ money in light of the low traffic the road carried – and claimed it may have been motivated by plans to deliver a larger solar farm north of the existing installation.
He said: “Why does the parlously financed Somerset Council think it right to spend what must now be hundreds of thousands of pounds of diminishing taxpayers’ funds to rebuild a road used by fewer than a thousand vehicles a year?
“Is it possible that the council is pre-empting and attempting to shore up (literally) access for Elgin Energy’s not-yet-approved application for 340 acres of solar panels in this area of outstanding beauty – part of the land that the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) is seeking to make Britain’s eleventh national park.”
Elgin Energy was refused permission in 2024 to build a larger solar farm between Nythe Road and Redlands Farmhouse, with construction access from the A361 Taunton Road.
The company put forward amended plans for the same site in July 2025, though no final decision on these proposals has been made.
The council said that the vehicle’s presence was unrelated to the planned solar farm, and that it had been recovered by a third party the day after it got stuck.
A spokesperson said: “Heidelberg is one of our partner contractors, and it was delivering stone for the resurfacing scheme.
“The vehicle was there from late-Wednesday afternoon (October 21) and was recovered on Thursday morning (October 22) by a specialist recovery company arranged by the owner.
“We have a duty to maintain the highway and this road has been closed for some time, so was identified as a priority for repair. Stabilisation is also required as part of the work.
“The scheme was prioritised for the sole reason that the road has been closed for a significant period of time.”