§ Mr. William Wilsonasked the Minister of Transport what consideration she has given the circumstances of the incident on 7th October 1966 on the Thelwell Viaduct on the M6 at Warrington, Lancashire, when a 17-year-old Coventry youth lost his life; and what proposals she has to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.
§ Mr. SwinglerIn this incident the youth left a northbound coach which had stopped on the deceleration lane to the A57 following a collision, and walked back on to the viaduct, which has a 3 ft. 9 in. steel parapet protected by a separate 2 ft. 3 in. safety fence. The youth stepped over the parapet, fell into the River Mersey and was drowned. In present designs the parapet and safety fence are combined in one barrier. Un-climbable parapets would be costly and unsightly; a substantial steel parapet should be sufficient warning and we have no proposals at present for amending the design.