A Ludlow lady was one of at least three people who had objects launched at her moving car from Fishmore Road bridge near Craven Arms. It left her in shock and covered in glass but it could of been a lot worse. We chat to trainee teacher and Ludlow choir member: Francesca Hughes about the incident.
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00:00So Fran, it's lovely to meet you, but under such rubbish circumstances, this is your beloved car.
00:05It is, yeah.
00:06We're in Ludlow, and just talk us in what's happened, Fran.
00:10You were driving towards Craven Arms, what was the name of the road you were going under?
00:15It's the A49, and then above me was Fishmore Road Bridge.
00:19I was driving home for my parents when I just got just underneath where the bridge is,
00:25and that's when something fell and did this.
00:28So initially, you thought a branch or something had fallen off a tree?
00:33There's some wood here, I thought it would have been from an overhanging tree,
00:38but then obviously I found out from a friend that this had happened to two other people,
00:42and then that's when I assumed, because the timings matched up, that it had happened to me as well.
00:46So this was the 13th of Feb, roughly 7.30pm on the evening,
00:52and so you then phoned the police, yeah?
00:54Yeah, so I phoned 101, and then they also asked me to log it online as well,
01:00and then they just sent me a confirmation to tell me that they'd had it,
01:03and that they initially told me that they'd closed the case,
01:06but now they've told me they're still looking into it.
01:09So did they make any comment to say, oh yeah, we have added a couple of other reports?
01:13Yeah, so they said that it happened to two other people,
01:16and they weren't expecting a third person, but obviously I was the third one to report it as well.
01:21So thankfully, I mean, none of us know for sure how we'll react, you know, if this happens to us,
01:26and this is on your driver's side, totally blocking your vision.
01:30You did well, you managed to bring the car to a stop and, you know, under control.
01:35Hopefully the other two did as well, I don't know, we probably don't know any more than that, do we?
01:39I did, when I was on my way home, I did see somebody parked up with their hazards on,
01:43but obviously I assumed that it was just a freak incident, so I didn't stop.
01:47But I assumed it had happened to him as well.
01:49Yeah, yeah.
01:51So how does it, you know, make you feel?
01:53I mean, you know, you're a nice lady, you're a choir member, you're training to be a primary school teacher,
01:58there's enough hazards on the road as it is.
02:00How does it make you feel when, well, firstly, when it first happened,
02:04I mean, the shock must have kicked in after you'd stopped the car.
02:07Yeah, I think it was initially just shock,
02:09and I just innocently assumed that it was an accident,
02:14that it was like a tree branch or something that had fallen.
02:16But then to find out that it was intentional is just a bit shocking, really.
02:20Yeah, I mean, whoever's done this surely must be aware
02:24that potentially it could have come through the windscreen, you know.
02:26Yeah, it was very nearly coming through.
02:28Yeah.
02:28You can see how indented it is.
02:30Well, yeah, I mean, looking in the cab there, I didn't realise until I looked in,
02:33but actually there are little shards of glass all in the cab, aren't they?
02:36And you had glass all over you, is that right?
02:37Yeah, I was covered like all over my chest, I had it all over my hands.
02:41Yeah.
02:41I think luckily I'm a glasses wearer, so I don't think it went in because of that,
02:45but yeah, it was very lucky that it didn't like fully come through, I think.
02:48Yeah, yeah.
02:50And does it make you wary about driving?
02:52What about going under that bridge in future and so on?
02:55Yeah, I think it will in future, especially at night.
03:00But I guess it's just hoping that maybe they might put CCTV there
03:03or have more patrols there in case it could happen again to somebody else.
03:08So yeah, I guess this time of year, 7.30, it was dark, wasn't it?
03:11Yeah, it was pitch black.
03:12So you don't remember seeing anybody on the bridge or anything?
03:15No.
03:15And you said that they were possibly caught the people on CCTV on a camera further down the road,
03:22but not enough to recognise anyone.
03:24Yeah, they said they couldn't ID anybody.
03:26Yeah. Did they kind of give any indicator?
03:29Did they say, oh, it looks like it was two of them, four of them or anything?
03:32No, they didn't say anything like that.
03:34Yeah. So fingers crossed they'll get a bit more info on that.
03:38So it's a good job you're on half term, isn't it?
03:41Yeah, so I don't have to drive to school whilst I'm training or to uni.
03:46So it's a good thing that, fortunately in some ways,
03:49that it happened now rather than like in a couple weeks time.
03:51Yeah, yeah.
03:53So you were saying, you know, you're not like the most confident of drivers as such.
03:57So it's not going to stop you from getting behind the wheel though?
04:01I don't think so, no.
04:02I think if it happened a couple years ago, it probably would have.
04:04But I have grown as a driver and I'm a bit more confident.
04:08So hopefully it won't stop me from doing what I need to do, really.
04:12Well, hats off to you for, you know, remaining calm in the situation
04:16and, you know, bringing that car to a stop without kind of careering off path.
04:21Amazing driving there.
04:23That should, you should definitely be, you know, get your confidence gaining from that.
04:28Well, we wish you all the best then and thank you for sharing your experience.
04:31From Shropshire Star, thank you.