Call for action on Evesham road labelled one the most dangerous in the country after three deaths (From Cotswold Journal)

Call for action on Evesham road labelled one the most dangerous in the country after three deaths

12:42pm Thursday 7th February 2013 in News By Sarah Taylor

Call for action on Evesham road labelled one the most dangerous in the country after three deaths

THERE has been a call for action on a stretch of road labelled one of the most dangerous in the country, after three deaths in the last two-and-a-half years.

Leader of Worcestershire County Council Adrian Hardman wants to see safety improvements made on a five mile section of the A46 Evesham Bypass, between Evesham and Beckford.

In his campaign for action, he has written to Patrick McLoughlin, the secretary of state for transport. Since July 2010, two fatal and seven serious accidents have taken place on this part of the A46.

Coun Hardman, who represents the Bredon ward on the county council, said: "I have written to Patrick McLoughlin, asking him to take action. I have asked him to revisit the question of dual carriageway, or improved safety measures on this section.

“I think this must be one of the most dangerous length of roads in the county if not country, since on average we are having five people either killed or seriously injured every year on this five mile stretch.

“We must act. This road is cutting Beckford in half and worrying all who live along it, or by it."

Diana Burgess, aged 40, died in the most recent fatal incident on the road after her motorbike was involved in a collision with a car at the entrance to Bell Service Station near Ashton on October 16 last year.

The driver of the black Peugeot 308 car involved in the crash has been charged with death by dangerous driving and will appear at Worcester Magistrates Court on February 19.

In July 2010 two people were killed after a crash on the road near the junction between the A46 Sedgeberrow bypass and Cheltenham Road.

Hayley Nalepa, aged 23, and her passenger, 45-year-old Chris Ball, both from Longlevens, Gloucester, died at the scene. Witness reports said Miss Nalepa’s car appeared to have lost control after over-taking at the same time as a vehicle in the opposite direction.

Tracey Davies, who escaped serious injury following an accident on the A46 between the Twyford roundabout and the B4035, last January says she would support a campaign to make the road safer, calling it a ‘death trap’.