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Our map shows the A36 collisions in the past year

SHOCKING statistics showing the number of deaths and serious injuries resulting from crashes on the A36 through Wiltshire in just one year are revealed today by the Wiltshire Times.

Six people have died and numerous others seriously injured on the A36 from Black Dog Hill, near Chapmanslade to the Wylye valley border, since January 2007.

For years councillors and residents have been campaigning without success to improve safety on what is known locally as the Death Valley stretch.

Statistics show the Black Dog Hill and Codford stretch of the A36 are particularly prone to collisions, with 28 crashes reported over the past year, according to the Wiltshire Police's road traffic collision statistics unit.

Of those 28, five crashes resulted in fatalities, while another five resulted in serious injury and the remaining 18 left people with minor injuries.

Fraser Mills, who runs Black Dog Farm, on Black Dog Hill, is campaigning to get solid double white lines on the road to stop people overtaking downhill on the three-lane road, which he believes encourages dangerous driving.

He said: "The situation seems to be getting progressively worse.

"It's people's impatience that makes it all go wrong.

"White lines down to the bottom would probably reduce the number of accidents by about 80 per cent."

After four crashes in as many months, one of which resulted in the death of an elderly man, Chapmanslade Parish Council and residents in the neighbouring village of Standerwick, have organised a public meeting with local MPs and the highways authority next month to ensure action is finally taken.

Dennis Barnard, vice- chairman of Chapmanslade Parish Council, said: "Our main concern is the succession of accidents over the years. People feel it is safe so they drive fast and overtake. They don't judge correctly the speed of the traffic.

"There's no way we are going to stop idiot drivers driving too fast and overtaking but the more we talk about it the more people will realise the dangers."

John Foster, chairman of the parish council, added: "There have been too many accidents in recent months, some of them involving fatalities.

"The meeting will canvass everyone's views on how the road can be made safer.

"We then intend to ask the Highways Agency, which is responsible for the road, to change the layout of the road so that traffic will slow down leading to fewer accidents."

A campaign by Chloe George for the Standerwick area, between Westbury and Frome, will also be discussed at the meeting, to look at reducing the speed limit before reaching the village from Black Dog Hill.

Miss George said she is eager to see double white lines on the Black Dog Hill stretch to stop drivers overtaking dangerously and approaching the village at high speeds.

Cllr Fleur de Rhe Philipe, Wiltshire County Council's lead member for environment, transport and economic development, hopes the meeting will resolve issues that have been going on for years.

She said: "I am in the process of writing to the Highways Authority to express our severe concerns about the road.

"It definitely needs sorting and I think, in my personal opinion, that it could be sorted out relatively simply.

"I quite understand the concern of the local people and I hope we can get it sorted."

The public meeting will take place at Chapmanslade Village Hall at 8pm on April 3.

7:43am Friday 21st March 2008

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