LONG-awaited plans to improve what has been branded one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the country are staying on the drawing board.

Wiltshire County Council will make another bid for cash to upgrade a three-mile stretch of A36 between Codford and Heytesbury as soon as a Government report into the whole road structure in the south west, which also include an analysis of the proposed Westbury bypass, is published next March.

Deaths and serious injuries on the short section of road south of Warminster have continued. During the 17 months to the end of 2001 the cost of accidents reached more than £4,700 a week.

A county council spokesman said: "We are doing all the preparatory work and choosing our preferred route while we wait for the Government's report. It would be premature to do anymore because it would not be practical or cost-effective. "

The project is designed to remove four accident blackspots; the junction at Knook Camp, the bends at Knook, Upton Lovell junction, and a stretch past two roadside cafes.

Codford villagers, who won their own bypass in the 1980s, are backing the fight. Parish council chairman Romy Wyeth said: "It is non-contentious, cost-effective and will dramatically improve road safety in the area.

"We want it as soon as possible. We're fed up that the goalposts are constantly being moved. We will make sure it goes through."