A local business owner has raised his concerns over large stones falling off lorries as they leave the building site at the new Devenish College on the Tempo Road, Enniskillen.

Derek McDowell, owner of Killyvilly Petrol Station which is located across the road from the building site, spoke to this newspaper last Thursday after large stones fell off a lorry the day before and landed in the forecourt of his premises.

He said: “Basically the main issue was there were stones on the road, they talk about health and safety, but there was no health and safety yesterday whatsoever.”

Although Mr. McDowell has said that the issue of large stones falling off the lorries has been ongoing since building work began on the new school site, he explained that last Wednesday (November 6) had been particularly bad: “I know the work has to be done and I appreciate that there will be muck and stones but the size of the stones we seen yesterday, they are a major concern.”

He continued: “If anybody happened to be walking across to the pumps and got hit by that stone, that would’ve been it.

“It’s a point of health and safety, I don’t know if anybody checks the heavy vehicles as they leave, it’s basically down to the site manager.”

“You don’t mind the muck on the road and the small stones but when something like that happens. If my wife Gillian had been out serving and got hit with it yesterday where do you go and what do you do?” said a concerned Mr. McDowell.

In a statement from a Departmental spokesperson said: “The Department was made aware that some excess mud from construction traffic exiting the Devenish College building site had accumulated on the Tempo Road, Enniskillen.

“DFI staff have discussed the matter with the contractor who has put in place measures to minimise the amount of material being deposited by site traffic and to clean the carriageway when required. DFI will continue to monitor the situation.”