MORE than 500 people have signed an online petition calling for Wiltshire Council to lower the speed limit on the A4 near Savernake Hospital after the death of a woman pedestrian.

A blue BMW 328 left the A4 London Road just before 5.30pm last Thursday, colliding with 54-year-old Jane Thompson, who was walking along the pavement.

Mrs Thompson, of the Redhouse area of Swindon, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Police said that both the BMW and a yellow Seat Leon Cupra were rounding a bend on the approach to the hospital, heading in the Froxfield direction, when the crash happened. The road was closed for several hours.

Two men, one aged 24 and the other 27, both from the Marlborough area, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Both have since been released on conditional bail.

The speed limit on that stretch of road is 50mph, and one resident believes more lives will be lost if drivers continue to be allowed to drive that fast.

Terry Nichols, of Rogers Meadow, said: "Why would you have a 50mph zone past a hospital when there is a crossing and a bus stop there too? There will be more people killed.

"How much do you think it costs to call a helicopter out and take someone from Marlborough to Oxford, like it has done before, when we could just change the speed limit?"

Residents are urging the council to extend the 30mph zone from the town to include the series of bends where the accident happened. The issue has become a hot topic among the Marlborough community on Facebook.

Emily Palmer, 18, who lives on London Road, started the petition to lobby Wiltshire Council, which now has more than 500 signatures.

She said: "People are always speeding past our house but I know they get even faster as they approach the 50mph zone. My parents have been quite concerned about it.

"When someone does die it makes it all too real. It should have been changed before – one life is one too many."

Miss Palmer, who regularly walks along the road, said she feels "unsafe" next to the speeding cars and hopes the council will take their concerns seriously.

Nigel Kerton, of St Margaret's Mead, said: "I cannot understand why the 30mph limit does not go further out to the bends.

"Anybody leaving Savernake Hospital on foot has to cross the road to get to the footpath. The road there is 50mph but no one is going at 50. I live at the bottom of the hill and people are coming past us at 60 or 70mph.

"The A4 has claimed so many lives and it remains a hazardous road because it hasn't been changed."

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said: "Our thoughts are with the lady's family and friends at this difficult time, however it would be inappropriate to comment on this incident while we await the coroner's report."

To sign the petition visit bit.ly/SavernakeHospitalSpeed