“The road is a nightmare” - safety fears after woman seriously injured in crash with minibus

The spot on Earlham Road where a woman and 12-year-old girl were hit by a minibus. Picture: Dominic Gilbert (Image: Archant)

At around 5.30pm yesterday (Thursday January 24) the woman in her 40s and a girl, believed to be 12, were trying to cross near George Borrow Road, when they were involved in collision with a minibus.

Following the incident the woman was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital with serious injuries, she has since been transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital for treatment.

The girl suffered minor injuries.

Peter Woodhead, 68, lives opposite the scene of the crash and ran out with quilts and pillows while calling 999.

'I had just walked into the front room when I heard a loud bang and screaming,' he said. 'Straight away I got a quilt from the back room and ran out, phone in hand. There must have been half a dozen people there.

'People were just screaming.

'It was difficult to tell what happened at first but there was screaming and a child running around, hysterical.

'The lady in the road had bad facial injuries and deep cuts. She was semi conscious but you could tell she was in trauma.

'One lady said she was a paramedic who was just finishing up at the hospital, and she took over.'

Mr Woodhead said he brought out kitchen roll and pillows before speaking to the minibus driver.

'I saw a guy a bit shaken, who was the driver of the minibus. He just stood up against a wall until the police arrived.

'Somebody stood in the road and diverted traffic down George Borrow Road.'

Residents said they have been campaigning to have safety measures installed on the road, and reduce the volume of traffic, for years.

Vicki Brown, 66, said: 'No authorities will accept this road poses extreme problems for the residents and for casual pedestrians or motorists.

'Something needs to be done about the way traffic is managed. There is too much competition for the road space and they have just been putting sticking plasters on instead of tackling the real problem.

'This is a B-road, a residential road, which is so dangerous because of the amount of traffic.'

Mr Woodhead added: 'The road is a nightmare, and now someone has been critically injured.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision, or the manner of the driving of the minibus prior to the incident, should contact PC Simone Sutcliffe at the Roads and Armed Policing Team on 101.