Second protest in bypass fight (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Second protest in bypass fight

Ref. 27866/2ROAD campaigners brought traffic to a standstill along a busy stretch of road between Melksham and Chippenham to highlight their pleas for a bypass.

About 30 protesters braved the wind, rain and vehicles on Saturday to cross the A350 at traffic islands along the road through Beanacre moving very slowly.

Carrying placards bearing slogans such as Bypass Now, they aimed to highlight calls for a relief road.

Police officers kept disruption to a minimum, but Gary Jardine, bypass project leader for action group Beanacre Matters, was happy a point had been made.

He said: "We achieved what we wanted to achieve. There were one or two irate motorists, but on the whole it went well."

The 55-year-old, who is spearheading the campaign, claims up to 22,000 vehicles thunder through the village every day, and he is expecting the volume of traffic to increase when Chippenham company Westinghouse Brakes moves to Bowerhill.

Saturday's protest was the second in a series of marches, and Mr Jardine is vowing to keeping up the pressure by organising another demonstration in the spring.

He has also collected hundreds of signatures on a petition which will be sent to roads minister Lord Whitty, and has written to MP Michael Ancram to call for his support for the campaign.

In the wake of her husband's death after a road accident in the village, Brenda Johnson, of Trowbridge, joined the calls for a relief road to try and prevent other families going through the same heartbreak.

Acting inspector Sarah Bodell, of Melksham Police, said: "We consulted with organisers beforehand asking them to only cross the road once. The demonstration was peaceful and there was minimal disruption to traffic.

"People have a right to protest but we asked them not to cause obstruction of the highway to the extent they did on the previous occasion."

Wiltshire County Council has already warned bidding for a bypass could take several years, but do plan to include one in the county Structure Plan.