TRAVEL: Disastrous disruption

My wife, myself and our dog travelled from Edinburgh on Thursday only to come to a complete standstill in a line of private and commercial vehicles at the A1, just north of the Island View Inn at Cheswick.

We were lucky to get shelter, food, warmth and great hospitality at the inn, and drivers helped push our car safely off the A1 into the car park.

We heard from locals and regular drivers of the A1 that such closures were not unusual.

Our journey was not taken lightly, we needed to get to Catterick to pass on something important to our son, who is serving in the Army. We ended up having to stay the night and only got away South by mid-morning – extra time, extra cost, extra hassle.

The return from Catterick saw more A1 closures at Alnwick so that left us with a detour from Hexham to Carlisle, then Edinburgh – no closures on any of these routes.

I have contacted Highways England for an explanation and compensation, naïve probably.

Iain Walker,

Edinburgh