A FARMER from Hampshire has been praised for his contributions to the reopening of the A32.

Nigel Blackman, 50, has received praise from the people of Wickham for his help in gritting the road and repairing a burst pipe.

Nigel, who runs Rooksbury Park Farm in Droxford Road, said: “Being a farmer I’ve got access to machinery and that kind of thing.

“So when we had a very dangerous morning on the first morning of the cold weather - where five cars spun off the A32 because of water that was washing down there - the council then basically closed the road which was causing quite a bit of grief for local residents and everything else.

“So, I knew where the blocked pipe under the A32 was, which is why the water was washing down the road.

Hampshire Chronicle: Nigel using his digger to help clear the road (credit: Nigel Blackman)Nigel using his digger to help clear the road (credit: Nigel Blackman) (Image: Nigel Blackman)“And because the road was closed, it was safe for me to get out onto the road with a digger, so I cleaned the ditch out, managed to get the pipe under the A32 running and then salted the road using our farm equipment so the A32 could get free and up-and-running again.”

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After helping to clear the A32, Nigel then went and helped to clear roads around the village, all of which he did out of his own pocket.

The people of Wickham have praised Nigel for his help keeping the roads clear and open, with him even being given a friendly nickname due to his efforts.

He continued: “The amount of positive comments that I’ve had on Facebook has been quite humbling. It’s quite nice.

Hampshire Chronicle: Nigel helping to clear the ditches (credit: Nigel Blackman)Nigel helping to clear the ditches (credit: Nigel Blackman) (Image: Nigel Blackman)“The village has given me a nickname now, I’m being referred to on Facebook as ‘Farmer Blackman’ now.

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“And then there have been other posts recently, when there’s been a problem, going ‘You know who you want to call, call Farmer Blackman’. 

“I only did it to help out, I’ve had loads of positive comments come back, but I didn’t do it for anything like that, I did it to be public-spirited for the village – that’s all.

“I’m part of the community and I’ll always do things to aid the community.”

A sixth-generation farmer, Nigel is also the officer in charge of Wickham Fire Station, the local on-call fire station.