A YEAR after the horrific accident that claimed the lives of two drivers on the A49 at Ashton a grim reminder of the tragedy - the roadside cottage wrecked in the fireball - has been demolished.

A mother and her teenage son, who lost all their possessions and were made homeless by the fire, moved on to a new life elsewhere.

Now the owners of the Alnwick Cottage site, Lord and Lady Cawley, plan to build a three-bedroomed replacement. The new house will be built on the opposite side of the large plot well away from the busy road.

"It was a lovely 200-year-old cottage but the same thing could happen again," said Lady Regina Cawley.

"It's sad, but it wasn't worth spending thousands of pounds to repair the building."

The old cottage was affected by accidents on several occasions and the front porch was demolished in one incident.

Since the death of the two lorry drivers last June there has been another fatal accident on the road bend near the cottage. There have also been a string of incidents in Ashton in which vehicles have torn through hedges and overturned in fields.

"Accidents happen here all the time," said Lady Cawley who lives in the hamlet. "Nothing has been done. I think Ashton has been forgotten."