Residents in St Anne's say that a crash on a busy road where lorries park throughout the day was "an accident waiting to happen".

Articulated lorries in marked bays constantly wait in St Anne's Road, causing cars to stop behind them and then pull out into the road in front of oncoming traffic.

The Bristol Post reported how at 6am on Wednesday police closed the road after a serious crash involving a motorbike, a car and a parked lorry.

The lorry was waiting in the road to enter the depot of commercial interiors supplier CPD.

Police said it was not yet clear how the crash happened, but said the motorbike rider, who was taken to Frenchay Hospital with injuries they described as "serious" and "possibly life-changing", was the only person injured.

Nirmal Singh, 47, the owner of Riverside Stores on Wootton Road, said that she has often seen near-misses on St Anne's Road because of the stationary lorries.

She said: "It has always been an accident waiting to happen and I'm not surprised at the seriousness of this crash as it's a very dangerous area.

"Lorries should not be allowed to park there because they cause havoc and make it so dangerous as sometimes drivers cannot see what's coming from behind the lorries."

Commenting on the Post website, one reader from St Anne's Park said: "Isn't it about time that lorry drivers were made to use the Somerfield car park as a waiting area until the gates open in the morning? A new point of access will need to be created, and a bit of reconfiguring will be required, but it will be well worth it."

And a St Anne's resident wrote: "This was always bound to happen due to the number of lorries that use the road to park in car parking bays far too small for a lorry, making it difficult and dangerous to pass them. The road is not fit for lorries."

When theBristol Post visited St Anne's Road yesterday, one lorry was parked in a marked bay near the entrance to Riverside Business Park and many cars coming from Feeder Road had to stop behind it to wait for an opportunity to pass. Although the lorry was parked in a marked bay, it was a good few inches wider than the bay.

Residents say that sometimes there are up to four lorries parked in the road as there is nowhere else for them to wait before being called to load or unload their trailers or complete paperwork.

The lorry driver parked in the bay at midday yesterday, a 56-year-old man from Nottinghamshire, said that St Anne's Road had a reputation for being dangerous and inconvenient.

He said: "I have been coming here for four years and it's always been bad. It's the worst when these bays are full. One bay is right by a bus stop, too, making it even more dangerous.

"Just stand here and look how many people want to go round this lorry. It seems to me that people in this area are in quite a rush and they just can't wait patiently.

"But if these spaces were taken away, we would have no choice but to sit on the double yellow lines."

Police accident investigators will take several days to determine what happened yesterday morning, and until their report is published, Bristol City Council, which has responsibility for the parking bays, said it was unable to comment on whether the bays should be removed to make the road safer.