IPSWICH dentist Alison Brown is more used to extracting teeth than lorries but that is exactly what she has had to do after several got stuck in the alleyway beside her surgery.

IPSWICH dentist Alison Brown is more used to extracting teeth than lorries but that is exactly what she has had to do after several got stuck in the alleyway beside her surgery.

Mrs Brown, who runs a surgery in Northgate Street, has become used to lorries getting wedged in the tiny lane after drivers have tried to squeeze down it because their Sat Nav systems tell them to.

Today she said the problem had become so bad she has had to leave patients lying on her chair to help drivers out.

She said: “It's a lovely little house which dates back to 1670 and I was so pleased when we moved here last year.

“It was especially nice to be on the ground floor because most surgeries are shoved up on the first floor with little or no windows.”

But even though the surgery has large windows there is often no light coming in.

“It goes very dark and you realise that yet another lorry has got itself stuck down the tiny lane.

“I leave my patients to go and help them reverse backwards so there isn't any damage caused to the windows or building.”

Mrs Brown has even admitted that she refused to go on a two-week holiday in August because she feared more damage would be caused to the surgery while she was away.

She said it was when she spoke to one of the drivers who had become stuck that she learned they were choosing the route because their Sat Nav systems were telling them to do so.

“I couldn't believe it when I heard that. Whoever has designed them must be mad. I have even taken to making my own road signs and putting them up to try and help drivers out and save the surgery from further damage,” she said.

Mrs Brown has reported the problem to Ipswich Borough Council.

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