MP wants 'urgent' safety improvements to A303 at Ilminster

Marcus Fysh is calling for an "urgent review" of the safety aspects of the A303 Ilminster bypass

An MP is calling for improvements on a section of road in Somerset that has claimed two lives in the past month.

Marcus Fysh, MP for Yeovil, said he had asked the Department for Transport to undertake an "urgent review" of the safety aspects of the A303 Ilminster bypass.

He said: "The recent spate of tragic accidents has made that a necessity."

The government has committed to making the A303 a dual carriageway, but work is not expected to begin until 2017.

Mr Fysh said that interim safety improvements on the road could include average speed cameras or a barrier.

Highways England said it was "constantly reviewing" the safety of all of its roads by analysing collision data provided by the police.

However, it said the A303 at Ilminster had had fewer collisions per hundred million vehicle miles than other single-carriageway stretches of the road.

A 27-year-old woman died following a crash on the road on 7 July, and a 43-year-old woman died in another accident on 15 July.