'Accident waiting to happen': Council safety bosses to assess 'dangerous' junction in Northamptonshire village

The council has promised to look into the safety of a "dangerous" junction in a Northamptonshire village where parents are scared for their children's lives

Residents in Chapel Brampton contacted this newspaper on Monday (March 7) to highlight the dangers of the Welford Road/Pitsford Road junction.

The residents say they "fear for their lives" when crossing the busy crossroad and want West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Northamptonshire Highways to implement traffic calming measures.

Village resident and mother-of-two Katie O'Brien, who is spearheading the safety campaign, told the Chron one young girl has recently been hit by a car.

Katie said: "One child has already been hit on this road just before Christmas, she was hit in the face by a wing mirror. She was checked over at hospital and was okay.

"It's only a matter of time before someone gets hit again - I think that's what it's going to take until WNC take some action."

This newspaper took the residents' concerns to WNC, which responded saying it is "committed to improving the quality of the county's roads and transport infrastructure".

A WNC spokeswoman said it installed additional signs and road markings at Welford Road/Pitsford Road crossroads in May 2019.

"For a period of two and a half years following this, there have been no reported or recorded collisions incurring injury which is the criteria the Department for Transport (DfT) use when reporting road accidents," the council said.

The Department for Transport only record and provide verified information on injury collisions, according to WNC.

In the last three years, the council said it has been made aware of just two collisions resulting in injury along this stretch of road.

A WNC spokeswoman said: "This was prior to the additional signage and road markings that were installed in the May 2019 of that year. The second one was recorded in October 2021, occurring slightly away from the junction and involving a pedestrian."

However, village residents claim there has been six incidents since August, with the latest coming last week.

The spokeswoman said: "On becoming aware of the residents’ concerns for safety and requests for support to reduce and remove the risk of further accidents, council officers recently met with the parish council to understand and hear the residents' concerns.

"As a result of this meeting, a further site visit is planned to review the works carried out in 2019 to ensure they are still of a high enough standard and also to consider what else can be done, such as the introduction of traffic calming, speed reduction and other appropriate measures to help address the potential causes of accidents at this location.

"We are also arranging for a further speed/traffic survey to be carried out to investigate the residents’ concerns of speeding vehicles within the village."

Katie O'Brien responded, saying: "It’s a shame it’s going to take someone to get seriously injured before more action is taken. I’m sure the many people who have had to pay out on damaged cars would want a safer road as well before anyone is injured/killed.

"The last paragraph [from the council] is promising so hopefully they will get out sooner rather than later to assess the road markings where some have now almost gone, and re visit the issue of speed and safety."