A ‘blue-light’ trained driver has told how he wrote off his van on a blackspot country lane near Huddersfield.

Former paramedic Steve Bateman, 48, lost control on a bend on the B6118 Bellstring Lane/Liley Lane between Grange Moor and Kirkheaton.

It was a stormy Saturday night in November when Steve came round a bend just past the Hare and Hounds pub. He was travelling at between 30mph and 35mph when his van aquaplaned.

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The back end spun and the van smashed into a car coming in the opposite direction, writing off both vehicles.

Steve, a scuba diving teacher from Denby Dale, travels the notorious road regularly and said: “It can be a nightmare at times.”

The Examiner has reported a mounting catalogue of crashes on the winding and exposed stretch of road this winter.

Steve Bateman wrote off his Renault Traffic van on a bend on the B6118 Bellstring Lane/Liley Lane near Grange Moor in November 2015.

Since three smashes in three days in November residents have been recording every one. Two serious injuries have been reported.

Last Sunday a Renault Clio ended up on its roof and a Monday morning a Honda Civic crashed into a field.

Steve, who recorded his smash on a centrally-mounted dash cam above his head, was at the wheel of his leased Renault Traffic van, travelling at no more than 35mph, when he negotiated the bend.

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“It had been a really wet and windy Saturday and what I didn’t see was a huge puddle of standing water,” he said. “The back end just went and when that happens there’s nothing you can do. Luckily no one was hurt but both vehicles were written off.

“I am blue-light trained and I’ve been on skid pans but it doesn’t matter how experienced a driver you are when that happens. It was my first accident in 15 years.”

Kirklees Council officials are investigating the road and various theories have been put forward for the accident toll.

Some say it’s excessive speed and others blame the camber of the road surface or mud from quarries and farmland.

A huge pool of water in the road where Steve Bateman wrote off his Renault Traffic van on a bend on the B6118 Bellstring Lane/Liley Lane near Grange Moor in November 2015.

Steve said: “It’s been very wet this winter and this road is very exposed and I think the weather conditions could have a lot to do with it.

“Some people certainly go too fast on there and I’ve had cars beeping trying to get past. I also think there should be a 7.5 tonne limit to keep wagons off the road.

“It’s too tight for wagons going round the bends.”

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