Villagers' road fears re-ignited by crash at danger junction (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Villagers' road fears re-ignited by crash at danger junction

8:20am Monday 15th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(1)

VILLAGERS near Winchester fear a crash involving multiple deaths is waiting to happen at a notorious junction.

Their concerns were voiced after yet another serious crash at the crossroads of Longwood Road and Belmore Lane, Owslebury.

A man was in a critical condition after a two-car smash that injured six people - including four children.

Two air ambulances and five ambulances were called to take casualties to hospital, following the collision at 1.15pm on Sunday March 7.

The crossroads, despite having £75,000 spent on remedial measures in recent years including red road paint, continues to be afflicted by accidents.

Nigel White, partner of Owslebury Garage Recovery, has lived in the village for more than 50 years and reckons 20 people have died at the crossroads in that time, most recently last August.

Mr White said: “The real problem is the incredible speed of cars on Belmore Lane coming from Corhampton, often over 100 miles per hour. We want to put pressure on the local authority to do something.

“The fear is that one day a local mother with two or three small children in the back will come out and be hit by a car.”

Anthony Manship, chairman of the parish council, said action was hampered by staff shortages in the highways department. “There isn’t the staff in place to get the job done, both at the safety partnership team and highways engineers. We don’t think the county is doing enough.

“The trauma ripples through the village. They don’t want it to happen to a local person.”

Villagers would like to see a staggered junction that will mean more vehicles on the side road, Longwood Road, having to halt.

Mr Manship said part of the problem was Belmore Lane was classified as a C road making it harder to get safety measures.

The latest crash involved a red Ford Fiesta and a grey Fiat people carrier. The Fiesta was flipped over and fire crews had to cut people out of the wreckage. The Fiat was travelling on the main road, said police.

The Fiesta driver, a 20-year-old man from Guildford, was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford with serious head injuries.

His passenger, a 20-year-old woman also from Guildford, was taken by air ambulance to Southampton General Hospital, suffering serious injuries.

Only the driver of the Fiat, a 43-year-old Shirrell Heath woman, escaped injury. Her four passengers, aged 10 to 15, were taken to Southampton General Hospital and Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, said a police spokeswoman.

The four injured children include a 13-year-old Waltham Chase girl, who suffered a broken hip. Three Shirrell Heath children received more minor injuries. They are a boy, 10, with a broken leg; a boy, 13, with a minor head cut and a girl, 15, with minor leg and arm injuries.

The police are appealing for anyone who saw the crash, or either car beforehand to get in touch. Witnesses should call Sergeant Wayne Voller at the Roads Policing Unit at Cosham on 0845 045 4545, quoting Operation Cambric.