A motorist has been injured after driving into automatic bollards in the town centre.

Hertfordshire Constabulary were called to the crash yesterday (October 24) in Clarendon Road at 4.18pm, with an ambulance also sent to the scene.

Police say a white Citroen Berlingo collided with the bollards, which operate on an automatic number plate recognition system.

A man in his 70s suffered a chest injury and was taken to Watford General Hospital for further care.

Stephen Kirsch, who works opposite the Palace Theatre, said he heard a “huge bang” following the incident.

He continued: “It sounded like a lorry’s shutter being slammed down and then a car alarm.

Watford Observer:

Photo credit Stephen Kirsch

“The road workers and the local shopkeepers were very helpful and gave him water and some tissues and then an ambulance came with the police.”

This is not the first time a vehicle has crashed into these bollards, with the Observer having reported on a number of accidents throughout the year.

On one occasion in June the front of a car had been destroyed after smashing into the bollards, which were introduced into the town centre by Watford Borough Council last year.

Watford Observer:

This car crashed into the bollards in June

They are designed stop drivers cutting through the high street. Only buses, authorised vehicles, and cyclists are allowed to travel down there.

But Mr Kirsch felt there had been a “huge increase” in the amount of people crashing into the bollards.

Watford Observer:

The sign warning people of the bollards

He said: “Fixed bollards on the pavement are being replaced alongside the electronic ones in the road and therefore there is quite a few cones and pedestrian barriers which seems to have diverted people’s attention away from the sign about the bollards.”

Following the incident yesterday, Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “In all of the three cases that have occurred in the past few weeks the drivers were relying on sat nav and not paying attention to the four warning signs, the stop road markings, the traffic lights and the audio warnings that are highly visible on this part of Clarendon Road.

“The very small number of people who continue to flout the Highways code in this way by trying to get past the bollards are acting illegal and extremely dangerously. Not only will they damage their own vehicle and potentially injure themselves, they can also be prosecuted by the police.”