A wall has collapsed in Dartmouth and is causing concern to local residents.

The wall is on Warfleet Road, before the creek and was hit by a car.

Lee Rogers, who lives nearby said: “There is no excuse to put public safety at risk. The wall was unsafe for a very long period of time. I first reported the road was unsafe last November. The stability of the road was unsafe with the general public using it daily,” he said.

Lee complained to Devon County Council and received a reply from the Highways Principal Engineer who gave his name only as Clive.

He wrote: ‘Your report on the Sunday February 18 was submitted online, rather than phoned in and therefore was not flagged as being urgent.

Your report was assessed by the local structures inspector, who identified that the wall was private and was adjacent to a private road. The inspector and his line manager had to prioritise this report against all other inspections, and it was agreed that a site visit would be made in the next few days. This decision was mainly based on knowledge of the site’s history of cracks to utility trenches, and patching, going back many years. On the day before the collapse, the Inspector was made aware that SWW were on site looking at a suspected leaking main and their blue markings remain visible on the site. Our suspicion is that a service has been leaking, and that, and the wet weather, has contributed to this collapse.

It should also be noted that the wall is privately owned and is not maintainable by Devon County Council I have no further comments to make.’ Lee was then offered a chance to complain to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman. On receiving the letter Lee said: “More training is needed within in the management roles of Devon Highways. “Lack of transparency, honesty and public good are clear violations of the UK engineering council’s ethical principles. “I feel you have shown a lack of respect to the general public and your responsibility as an engineer.”