Safety fears on Hartlepool family estate after 4x4 smashes into parked car

The damaged VW Scirocco after being hit while parked on Merlin Way.

A Land Rover type vehicle is said to have mounted the grass verge smashing into Scott Mincher’s VW Scirocco which was parked off Merlin Way shunting it about 20ft forward.

The other vehicle did not stop and Scott, 22, is appealing for witnesses.

Tyre marks show the length the unidentified vehicle travelled along the grass verge before hitting the VW Scirocco in the distance.

Homeowner Trevor Jones, whose 21-year-old daughter Ashleigh is Scott’s girlfriend and the main driver of the Scirocco, has called on council chiefs to install speed bumps saying someone could have been killed.

Scott, a quantity surveyor, said: “This road would benefit from speed bumps, or even better, a speed camera.

“With Merlin Way being a residential area, with young families, this could have been a lot worse.”

Scott said it is believed the vehicle involved swerved to avoid an oncoming car and lost control before mounting the grass verge for some distance.

It happened at about 8pm on Monday, March 5, close to Sainsbury’s.

Mr Jones, an electrical contractor, said: “The car mounted the grass. My daughter’s car was parked directly behind a lamppost. It was shunted from one side of the drive to the other.

“I’m not bothered about the car, it can be replaced. The main thing is she wasn’t sat in it or there was anybody coming out of their drive.

“I have spoken to the council numerous times about getting some speed restrictions.

“Bishop Cuthbert is a new estate, it’s growing all the time. God forbid it’s going to take an accident before something gets done.”

A similar incident happened four years ago when an unknown driver crashed into Mr Jones’s van which was parked on the roadside before leaving the scene.

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said: “We have previously received requests for speed humps on that section of Merlin Way, but it is a main road and they were not considered appropriate. We have, however, installed vehicle activated speed warning signs in that vicinity on Merlin Way.

“In addition, a light-controlled puffin crossing is due to be installed on that area of Merlin Way as part of the Upper Warren housing development and paid for by the developers, and that should have a further traffic calming effect.”

Cleveland Police confirmed it is looking into the collision.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting the event number 039405.