Ref. 31034-6A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following a fatal road smash.

The man was arrested yesterday after being treated at Great Western Hospital in Swindon for arm and leg injuries after the accident near Brinkworth.

He was released on police bail pending further inquiries.

The accident happened on the B4042 between Callow Hill and the junction of the B4696 to Ashton Keynes when a grey Nissan Primera was in collision with a black Volkswagen Golf.

Emergency services called to the scene fought in vain to rescue the Golf driver who was trapped in the wreckage of his car.

But the man, who has not yet been named, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both men involved in the crash at 8.45am yesterday are from the Swindon area.

Police closed the B4042 between the Callow Hill crossroads and the junction of the B4696 to carry out the rescue and their investigations.

The road was re-opened again in the early afternoon.

Villagers in Brinkworth and Callow Hill said there had been a number of accidents along the stretch of road.

John Tuck, who owns Highgate Farm near the crash scene, said: "I am a farmer and we have to take cattle over the road occasionally so they can graze in our field on the other side.

"We have to have three of us in florescent jackets out there to get them across the road. We just have to hope for the best."

A spokesman for Wiltshire County Council said: "All accidents are taken very seriously by the county council and we monitor accidents rates on all the county's roads to help identify where there are any problems."

Accidents recorded

In the past three years there have been two slight injury accidents at Ballard's Ash at the junction of the B4042 and the B4696.

At Callow Hill crossroads, there has been one minor injury accident for the same period.

In the stretch between the two junctions there has been one serious injury accident and two slight injury accidents in the 36-month period up to October 2002.

The figures do not include a fatal accident in August last year when 37-year-old Angela Eldridge died on the same stretch following a collision with a road sweeping machine.

According to the county council the accident rate along the stretch of road from Callow Hill crossroads to the Ballard's Ash B4696 junction was below typical when compared to similar roads in the county.

Anthony Osborne