Speed limit cut on Lincolnshire road after accidents

The top speed limit on a stretch of the A15 near Bourne will be cut to 40mph (64kph)

The speed limit on a road in Lincolnshire will be cut following a series of accidents.

County councillors agreed with a report which recommended dropping the limit to 40mph (64kph) on a stretch of the A15 between Northorpe and Bourne.

It comes after an 80-year-old woman died after a three-vehicle collision on the road in December.

Committee members approved the cut from 60mph (97kph) despite objections from a local bus company.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the company had asked that the limit remained at least 50mph (80kph).

The firm was reported as saying that higher speed limits allowed buses to gain time which had been lost elsewhere on the route.

However, one councillor said the parish council had been lobbying for change "for a long time now".

Robert Reid added: "I don't quite understand how the local buses really catch up on this particular stretch in the manner they say they do."

Investigations found the average speed on that part of the A15 was only 42mph (68kph).

Under the new limits, traffic heading north would drop to 40mph (64kph) when passing through Northorpe and remain at that until they reached Bourne.

Councillor Nigel Pepper said the fact the county's Road Safety Partnership had brought it to the council's attention signified it was a "dangerous stretch of road".

He pointed to several incidents involving buses on the road, adding: "It illustrates there is a mixed usage on this road with children, cyclists, buses…This is the right decision."