Concrete blocks installed outside Sheffield home which was damaged in crash

The huge blocks – similar to those used to prevent terror attacks at public events, like the Christmas market in Sheffield – were being lifted into place this morning in the front yard of a property on Beck Road in Shiregreen which had itself been badly damaged in another crash in April this year.

Their installation comes the morning after a skip lorry was deliberately driven into a house around 100 metres away on Shirehall Road and set alight while a woman was inside the home at around 7.30pm.

Police say the lorry’s occupants are believed to have fled the scene in another vehicle which was involved in a collision on Beck Road shortly after.

When The Star spoke to a man at the damaged property on Beck Road, who did not give his name, he said the decision to install the blocks today had nothing to do with the incident last night.

He also claimed the crash on Beck Road last night had happened much further up the road and was unconnected to that night’s arson attack.

However, a neighbour told how a car had collided with two vehicles close to the damaged house on Beck Road last night before speeding off.

The man at the damaged property on Beck Road said: “This has nothing to do with what happened last night. We’re just putting these in place to stop scrap men coming and taking stuff from the house.

“The crash on this road last night had nowt to do with what happened on Shirehall Road either, or what happened here. It happened much further down, a couple of houses before the end of the road.”

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “The crash last night was just where that lorry – the one containing the concrete blocks, parked outside the damaged home – is now.

“I think two cars parked there were hit and I heard the vehicle which must have crashed into them speed away but I didn’t see it.

“It's usually really quiet here apart from when children are coming or going from school. I’m certainly not afraid to go out or anything like that.”

On Saturday, April 27 this year a large van reportedly collided with the house on Beck Road at around 10.40pm before being driven off. It was then said to have come to a stop on nearby Dunninc Road before the occupants left the area. No one was injured in that crash, which it has never been suggested was deliberate.

When a reporter from The Star attempted to take a photo of the concrete blocks being installed today, the man outside the property threatened to grab his phone if he did so.

Police are unable to say at this stage whether the Beck Road crash in April is linked in any way with the one on Shirehall Road last night.

Anyone with information about the Shirehall Road arson attack is asked to call police on 101, quoting incident number 801 of October 21.