Digger collapses into trench at roadworks site

A road in Hereford was temporarily blocked on Wednesday after a digger fell victim to its own work.

The excavator had been digging a trench for Welsh Water on the side of Three Elms Road but ended up in it, causing its arm to lean out into the road.

One driver said he had to wait in traffic for half an hour while a lorry attempted to squeeze through the tiny gap that was left.

Herefordshire Council eventually closed part of the road so the earth mover could be recovered. The vehicle was then righted and the road reopened, allowing traffic to return to normal.

The council shared a photo of the scene on Facebook to alert people to the temporary closure – and the picture was met with ridicule.

One commenter said: “Should of [sic] gone to Specsavers”, while someone else added: “Go home digger, you’re drunk.”

Others offered more serious criticism, saying: “Decent operator would pick himself out of that.” Another said: “Why didn’t the drive [sic] use the ‘arm’ to push his way out??? Lots of videos on youtube [sic] could’ve given him instructions!”

However, there were no reports of an operator being involved or any injuries, and a commenter on the Hereford Times website seemed to put the mishap in perspective, saying: “I saw this digger parked up at 8pm last night and the tracks were so ridiculously close to the edge of the trench it had dug that I actually thought to myself…if that trench gives way that digger will be in it by the morning!”