A 40ft articulated lorry struck a man’s house while reversing amid growing safety concerns about deliveries to Jolly’s Hotel in Broughty Ferry.
The neighbouring house and caf have both been hit by large lorries trying to manoeuvre backwards into the 12-foot wide shared access lane to the Wetherspoons venue.
As well as having his house hit, King Street resident Steve Jankowski said he is regularly obstructed and can’t get his cars out while lorries are unloading.
He said: “They are backing really big lorries down the side of my house and obstructing my access. They park up there for 40 minutes at a time to unload and my wife can’t get the car out to do the school run.
“Then on Saturday they actually hit my house. They have cracked the pavement twice and this has been repaired by the council.
“When it was the old Jolly’s they had a couple of smaller lorries delivering a lot less often. Now we’ve got 40ft articulated lorries trying to reverse into a gap 12 foot across and they are all up on the pavement.
“I think it’s a public safety issue. It is an accident waiting to happen and someone is going to get hurt.”
William Hutchinson, who runs the Caf Royale on the other side of the access lane, said he was concerned for the safety of his wooden caf when a lorry hit it.
He said: “I have contacted the council as I don’t agree with them coming down here at all. They are going into Bath Street, which is a one-way street, then reversing back to get into the lane.
“They are driving all over the pavement, then they drove through the cones the day after the council repaired it.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. The caf got hit a while back and the whole building shook. I thought the whole building might come down. It is only a wooden building.
“Sooner or later I think either my shop or Steve’s house are really going to cop it.”
Councillor Derek Scott said the council has made an urgent request for bollards to be put in place at the entrance to Bath Street to prevent the lorries using it.
He said: “We have spoken to Tayside Contracts about getting a bollard on the start of Bath Street with some urgency so they wouldn’t be able to do that manoeuvre anymore.”
He said the corners of the pavements on either side of the access road, which were already in a poor state, had to be replaced after the lorries mounted them.
“It is inappropriate for vehicles this size to be manoeuvring like this,” he added.
“When these streets were built it was never envisaged that lorries that size would need access, and our pavements are not designed to carry that weight.
“Dundee City Council’s roads authority has concerns about the manoeuvre but it is up to the police to enforce it.”
He said he hopes a solution can come out of a scheduled meeting between Wetherspoons, transport engineers and Police Scotland.
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We are still looking into the situation, so at this stage are unable to give a full response.
“We do not wish to cause any problems for people and business owners in the town and, accordingly, will aim to get to the heart of the issue.”