Residents of a Moray village are threatening legal action to force a transport company responsible for £3,000 of damage to a war memorial to pay the repair bill.
A 15-tonne heavy goods vehicle (HGV) operated by McIlvanna Transport ploughed through Garmouth last October, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
The lorry was being driven by a Lithuanian man, who had been unable to read an “unsuitable right turn for HGVs ahead” sign as he followed a colleague with a smaller load through the village.
At the time, the firm said they would cover the cost of the repairs.
But almost four months later, the Garmouth Amenities Association is still waiting for the money.
The group’s secretary, David Mackay, said: “When the accident happened, the owners of the lorry firm issued a public statement saying they would cover the costs of the damage.
“Last year, we managed to repair the memorial just in time for the remembrance service in November, and we still have costs we need to pay.
“But even though I’ve contacted them about it and sent a bill, we still haven’t had any response.
“There are local tradesmen who need paid for the work and if we don’t hear anything by next week then I’ll be taking legal action.”
County Tyrone based McIlvanna Transport is based in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
When contacted by the Press and Journal yesterday, the company refused to comment.
As well as causing £2,850 worth of damage to the village’s war memorial railings and surrounding kerbs, the rampaging vehicle left a trail of wreckage through the village.
It hit two road signs, squashed three wheelie bins, broke a gate and shattered a garden wall.
Driver Audrius Svegzda had managed to get the vehicle stuck as he tried to manoeuvre from Spey Street to High Street.
Police arrived to find the articulated lorry wedged across the tight three-way junction between a flat, a house wall and the war memorial.
At the time the driver said: “It just happened”.
Yesterday, Fochabers and Lhanbryde councillor Sean Morton said: “It was the right thing for the amenities association to do get the memorial repaired in time for remembrance Sunday and they did it in good faith.
“The lorry company should keep their end of the bargain, nobody should go to court over this as that would be more expensive for everybody involved.”
Fellow ward councillor Douglas Ross added: “It’s very disappointing that a large company who accepted responsibility for the accident and offered to pay for the repairs now seem not to be entering into dialogue with the amenity’s association.
“The association did the works, which had to be undertaken quickly.
“The company will be viewed very dimly by people locally and further afield if they don’t remedy this.”
The war memorial railings had been purchased by the amenities association in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday, using money bequeathed in the will of 100-year old Garmouth woman Helen Anderson.
Since the incident, Moray Council has repositioned and enlarged the sign advising lorry drivers of the unsuitable right turn in the village.
Polished stone panels are set into the front and sides of the memorial’s base to commemorate losses in World War I.
The base is polished with a carved record of the dead in World War II.