Jacqui Lade of Burston Road, Shimpling, was at home on Tuesday morning when she heard a screech of tyres and then a loud crunch.

She found a tractor with a twin-axle trailer had squashed her hedge and spilled animal feed into the garden.

Miss Lade said: “When I heard it, I knew what had happened because we have had cars go over before on that bend.

“You just hope there isn’t going to be a dead person but thankfully, no one was injured.”

She said villagers have long been worried about HGVs and speeding traffic in the village and that it was only through campaigning that a 30mph speed limit had been introduced about three years ago.

James Jones was on the parish council when he led the campaign for the limit along Burston Road and said he would now like it reduced to 20mph because there was a risk of fatalities.

He said: “We are getting some very serious accidents.

“There are a lot of ladies with children in their cars taking them to school each day. One of these days, one of them could be a victim.

“The issue is not just about cars, it is also about the HGVs that come through.

“The roads are not built for them, they take up such a lot of room making the road very dangerous.”

Norfolk County Council spokesman Steven Reilly said for a speed limit to be reduced to 20mph, they would look at factors including personal injury accidents or if the road was near a school or in a busy area.

He added: “Shimpling is a fairly typical Norfolk village, similar to many others in the county, where the current 30mph restriction would seem to be the most appropriate level of restriction.

“With only two personal injury accidents reported to the police as having occurred on the road in the last ten years, we would not consider this stretch of road as being applicable for such a reduction.”

Burston and Shimpling Parish council vice-chairman Alison Wakeham said many parishioners had raised the issue as a concern.

She said: “Unfortunately, when Victoria Road through Diss is busy, Burston and Shimpling is a cut through. We do pressure the county council regularly. We have a member liaising with them.”

A Norfolk Police spokesman said there was no evidence the tractor driver in this incident was speeding and no further action would be taken.

luke.page@dissexpress.co.uk