THE notorious Ham Barn roundabout claimed its 15th lorry victim when a freight lorry toppled over on Monday morning.
The lorry, which was carrying mail from the Channel Islands, was travelling northbound on the A3 from Portsmouth when the accident happened at 4-59 am as the driver attempted to negotiate the roundabout. No other vehicle was involved.
Letters and parcels spilled from the curtain-sided lorry out on to the roundabout and across the B3006 exit from Greatham on to the roundabout.
The vehicle itself blocked the same exit, forcing drivers using the B3006 from Alton to use an alternative route.
The lorry driver, who has not been named, escaped unhurt but was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth as a precaution.
Rush-hour tailbacks of two miles on the northbound carriageway of the A3 as a result of the accident meant that it took many drivers up to 40 minutes to make the short journey from the Steep Marsh exit to the Ham Barn.
Many others chose to cut through Liss and Greatham and rejoin the A3 at Longmoor.
Recovery vehicles righted the lorry around 10-30 am and another vehicle collected the mail which had spilled on to the road. The roundabout was completely reopened at 12-30 pm Ð seven-and-a-half hours after the accident.
MondayÕs accident brings to 15 the number of lorries which have fallen foul of the roundabout since the A3 bypass opened about ten years ago.
It is the fifth lorry accident since a £110,000 package of safety measures was installed at the roundabout in the autumn of 1996, but the first since the roundabout was resurfaced last year.
Safety measures added to the roundabout after a long campaign by local residents include eye-catching signs, new road markings and anti-skid surfaces.