Stop the mounting death toll (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Stop the mounting death toll

8 DEAD IN 12 DAYS: TUESDAY'S fatal crash came less than 24 hours after campaigners renewed calls to improve safety on the A350 between West Ashton and Yarnbrook.

Despite its accident history the mile-long stretch of road was excluded from the latest plans for the Westbury bypass, published last summer, on financial grounds.

Residents have urged the county's traffic chiefs to fund separate safety measures in a bid to halt the mounting death toll.

On Monday night local councillors met with senior Wiltshire County Council traffic officers to discuss the timetable for the Westbury bypass and improvements to the area. Highways improvement manager Tim Jones explained that the proposed work at West Ashton and Yarnbrook was unlikely to be completed before 2012.

After the events at Stoney Gutter on the following afternoon, campaigners' comments had an added poignancy.

District council leader Tony Phillips said: "If we wait eight more years I shudder to think how many more people will be maimed or killed. There must be measures which can be taken before then."

Yarnbrook resident and Westbury mayor Horace Prickett said: "According to Government statistics the most dangerous bit of the A350 is the Heywood to West Ashton Road. That stretch is costing the tax payer £1.9m per year in dealing with fatal and serious accidents."

Jeff Lewis, of residents group Rape of Rural Yarnbrook (RORY), said: "If they are going to bypass Westbury then Yarnbrook should be included but the council just seems to close its eyes."

Mr Jones said the county council was unlikely be able to secure funding for improvements until the Westbury bypass was completed.

But director of environmental services George Batten said he would take on board calls for other safety measures and would continue to press for more Government funding.