Cash for Lunsford Cross blackspot

The county council is proposing to re-align the A269, extend the 30mph speed limit beyond the cross-roads at Lunsford Cross and lay an anti-skid surface. It is putting 40,000 in its local safety schemes capital programme for this year.

The news has been welcomed by campaigners Barbara and Bob Gillingham who collected around 60 signatures on a petition calling for action to cut the casualty toll.

"It's fantastic news and about time too," said Mr Gillingham whose home is one of the corners of the crossroads.

"If they do everything they say they're going to do then that will be exactly what we wanted.

"We'd had enough of hearing squealing tyres and waiting for the thud. At times it seemed like there was one every week. We've had people hit our garden wall but luckily no-one's actually come through it."

He said because the speed limit didn't drop to 30mph until after the crossroads, motorists would drive through at speeds of up to 50mph, causing problems for vehicles trying to come out of Peartree Lane.

Divisional road engineer Graham Furness said: "We have money in for a maintenance scheme. The road surface is worn out and needs replacing.

"Our traffic and safety manager, Colin Clarke, has been working on an incidence of accidents study on it. I think we are looking at re-aligning the road to the north to give increased visibility for drivers attempting to pull out of Peartree Lane and to altering the speed limit. By combining the maintenance scheme with a crash study, the design team are trying to address both rather than just re-surface it. An anti-skid surface will ensure that if you have to anchor-up you can do it a bit quicker."