BATTLING octogenarian Wendy Smith has fired off correspondence, photographs and points of law to Devon and Cornwall chief constable Maria Wallis in a bid to get a bus service returned to Church Road, Newton Abbot.

Mrs Smith, 82, of Forde Park, swung into action when Country Bus temporarily re-routed the service away from Church Road after its drivers had difficulty getting through because of vehicles parking on both sides between Carpenters Court and Courtenay Road. Now elderly residents of Milton House and further along Church Road face a walk to catch the bus at Forde Park and have to cross a busy junction. 'They take their lives in their hands every time they cross at the junction and there have been numerous near misses,' said Mrs Smith. With the backing of the residents, she has contacted Devon County Council, councillors and the police, and says she sent everything off to the chief constable 'as a last desperate attempt to hit the right department because I am fed up with everyone passing the buck'. Mrs Smith has also researched and listed points of law after, she says, police told her they could not prosecute unless there were yellow lines. One law point, 'unnecessary obstruction', says 'an obstruction can be caused by taking up so much of the road that normal two-way traffic is reduced to one-way flow'. She also points out that the Secretary of State made an order concerning the functions that traffic wardens may undertake, which stated that they can be employed to enforce the law with respect to obstruction of road by vehicles being left or parked on a road or other public place. In a letter to Mrs Smith this week, the Devon County Council Local Services Group states that before the re-surfacing of Church Road last year there was no traffic regulation order and no yellow lines on the western side. In the absence of an order, it was simply not possible to install and enforce parking restrictions. The situation was being monitored by the county council and the police to determine if any action by either authority is considered appropriate. At last week's Newton Abbot Town Council annual public meeting, a resident wrote asking for the council and the meeting to lobby the DCC on the matter. County cllr Gordon Hook said several residents had contacted him and the item was on the agenda at a DCC meeting. Cllr Reg Wills said they had allowed far too many flats in Church Road, which had brought with it parking problems. He suggested the local services officer might consider a bus lane only. 'It is not a problem which is going to go away with a few yellow lines,' he said. A future town council transportation sub-committee is to discuss the matter. On Wednesday, Paul Hamlyn-White, the operations manager of the Country Bus Service, said that as soon as the parking problem was resolved the buses would resume through Church Road. 'A bus gets there and cannot get through and the driver has to reverse, putting the passengers and himself at risk. This situation was becoming much more frequent and the service was becoming unviable because of the time lost,' he said. 'At the end of the day people with cars who live there cause the problem through inconsiderately parked vehicles. 'We have no problem with our buses going through there if they sort out the parking.' The 75 bus has nine complete round trips a day – Newton Abbot-Decoy-Newtake – and the service has been operating for more than 18 months. 'In that time I don't think we have ever been able to pull into a bus stop there because of parked cars,' he added. l After interviewing Mrs Smith on Wednesday, I had two narrow escapes which highlighted the dangers at the junction. As I was walking on the pavement on the corner of Forde Park the rear wheels of a heavy lorry mounted the pavement and were less than six inches away from me. Then, while crossing to the central reservation close to the corner, a car suddenly came around and I had to jump back quickly to avoid being bowled over.