Call for speed limit reduction after two deaths

There has been at least 10 crashes on a stretch of the A68 in Northumberland since 2018

People living near a road where two people died in separate crashes have called for action before there is "another fatality".

A 69-year-old man was killed in October 2023 on the A68 near Bingfield, Northumberland. In April 2024, a 57-year-old man died on the same stretch.

A report by the local council identified nine “personal injury collisions” since January 2018.

Michael Candlish, who started a petition calling for the speed limit to be reduced, said "two fatalities is simply unacceptable".

"We totally accept that the A68 is the main artery route to the borders, but what we don’t accept is that it is a normal road," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We have peaks, bends and dips that are not acceptable for a 60mph road."

'No fun at all'

Green Party councillor Nick Morphet, who represents much of the area, agreed it is "a really, really dangerous stretch of road".

"I have to cycle on it regularly and it’s no fun at all," he said.

"My preference is for a 50mph limit, which is not going to interfere with traffic flow but it will significantly increase safety on that stretch of road."

Northumberland County Council’s highways officer Neil Snowdon said road safety work had been carried out in March 2022, with just two collisions taking place since then. 

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