Heartbroken mother of Lloyd Mitchell, Paula Nathan, says she is not being allowed to grieve after Buckinghamshire County Council removes roadside shrine

Family and friends of 18-year-old Lloyd Mitchell, who died on September 10, 2014 after crashing his off-road dirt bike into a car, have kept a constant memorial to his life at the junction where he died, near the Rye in High Wycombe.

However, six months on and his mother, Paula Nathan, says they are “devastated” and “shocked beyond belief” after Buckinghamshire County Council removed all of the items including flowers, photos, tributes and candles from the junction.

The council has apologised to Ms Nathan for not notifying her of the removal personally - but maintains the shrine had to be removed after safety concerns and complaints from residents.

She said: “Surely they aren’t allowed just to go down there and remove it like that? My family are so upset about it, and it has upset a lot of others too.

Tributes left by the roadside.

“He was such a popular person and he had lots of friends. It was nice for them to have something down there to remember him.

“And, to not even tell us, just to take it - it’s disgraceful. How can they have the right to take it from all of us without even telling me?

“It’s just something we didn’t need at the moment - we’re still grieving.”

Lloyd died at the scene of the crash at the junction of Bassetsbury Lane and Chestnut Avenue as he made his way home to Bowerdean Road after leaving work in Burnham.

He collided with a Toyota Rav4 and an inquest later concluded he had not been speeding, but for an unknown reason he failed to stop at the give way lines.

Since his death, Ms Nathan has been campaigning to have road improvements made at the junction, with BCC cabinet member for transport, councillor Ruth Vigor-Hedderly, agreeing to fund changes to lining and signage in the road.

Lloyd’s family and friends still make visits to the crash site daily, and in February Ms Nathan unveiled a bench opposite the junction in his memory - but this has led to members of the public calling for the family to remove their roadside shrine.

She added: “People don’t want the tributes there, but we have never done anything wrong or against the rules. We were told we couldn’t leave anything by the bench, so we haven’t.

“We were told the other residents wanted it tidied so we did that, I’ve always made sure it’s clean, and I can’t believe they [BCC] have done this.

“We got fake flowers because we were told not to leave fresh ones - what more do they want us to do? I did everything I was supposed to do, to keep it nice.”

Ms Nathan says the family also have the support of road safety charity Brake, which says on their website that placing a time limit on roadside flowers is placing a time limit on grieving, which is “inhumane”.

Lloyd Mitchell.

Cllr Vigor-Hedderly has now apologised on the council’s behalf, but says after receiving numerous complaints from residents it was felt the time was right to remove the shrine.

She said: “It would have been better to communicate this to say what day, and time, we would be removing this shrine, and I can only apologise on behalf of Transport for Bucks, and really do apologise if it has offended her.

“I’m sorry she wasn’t notified in person, it’s not something we would normally go ahead and do. However, I had a conversation with her some weeks ago, assuring her the bench was there, and when it was in place, the shrine would have to be removed.

“A couple of flowers on the side of the road for six seven months is not a problem, but you have to say at a certain point that a line needs to be drawn.

“What would happen if someone comes round that corner with a Zimmer frame or a wheelchair, or they’re disabled, or they’re vulnerable, and they fall over?

“What happens then to other innocent parties? It’s not just about one person, it’s about the residents, it’s about everyone in that area.

“We have accommodated Ms Nathan by allowing her a bench in the memory of her son opposite where the accident was - there are not many local authorities who would do that.

“So, she can actually grieve and can continue to do so in the area she lost her son.”

She added that her deepest thoughts and sympathies are with the family and they will continue to help how they can - as they hope to do with planned road improvements.