Driver furious as youths cut fuel pipe

A MAN struck down by arthritis has hit out at youths who cut the fuel pipe to his only means of transport.

He is too frightened to be named for fear of reprisals but fears that a bad fire could have started after a full tank of petrol was left to run down the road.

And the incident has highlighted a worrying situation where fire crews were prevented from getting to deal with the scene because cars were parked either side of the road.

The 59-year-old from Pickwick Road, Ipswich said the fuel pipe was cut to his Vauxhall Astra at around noon on Sunday.

He said: "I have my car because I am disabled.

"I have a friend who is in hospital and I could not get to visit her yesterday.

"With my car I can go and visit my daughter and granddaughter but people just don't care."

The man said that the flowing petrol could have caused a serious incident.

He said: "There was a whole tank of petrol running down the road.

"If someone had put a match to that there could have been a huge explosion.

"But the fire crews had to run down the road because there were too many cars parked on both sides of the street."

According to the man, youngsters had been causing problems in the area for some time.

He said: "This is Christmas time, you don't ask for things like this.

"We have had so much trouble with the kids that everyone is getting fed up with it."

He has now been left having to foot the bill for a new fuel pipe and for a new tank of petrol.

A spokesman for Suffolk fire service confirmed the incident had happened.

He said: "Petrol in the road is an obvious immediate fire hazard, but also very dangerous to health if it got into the water course, and then potentially built up elsewhere.

"Firefighters were able to quickly prevent this, and indeed to overcome the issue of difficult access."