Farmer calls for A494 speed limit changes following crashes

A farmer has called for the speed limit on a road that passes his house to be lowered after three crashes on to his property in the past year.

Kevin Peacock, who owns a farm off the A494 near Ruthin, Denbighshire, said the 60mph road had left him fearing for his family's safety.

He said he'd been told the road did not meet the criteria for extra measures to be put in place.

The Welsh government said signs and markings had been improved on the road.

CCTV has captured several cars crashing off the road on to his property.

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"It's such a fast piece of road and, as soon as they come at the end of the straight where my property is, there's a right-hand bend and they go straight on - they lose control on the bend," he said.

"We had one, mid-February or March, he came through and he landed within about 20 metres (65ft) from the house.

"He'd lost control on the bend and, by the time he'd try to correct it, he'd shot through the hedge and landed down the embankment, went through a couple of gates, posts, everything, landed on its roof and toppled back over on its wheels."

Mr Peacock said he had asked for a barrier to be put up where the road bends so anyone who failed to stay on the carriageway was prevented from crashing through the hedge.

He said the lack of any measures put in place had left him concerned for his family's safety.

"We've got grandchildren that come to us every week and it's a worry just having them outside," he said.

Mr Peacock has now used 200 tonnes of soil to raise the embankment on his side of the hedge, to prevent cars crashing on to his driveway and the garden near his house.

"Hopefully, they will hit the earth and the bank and stay in the road. But it wouldn't stop anything commercial, like a big van or a small lorry," he added.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: "We have recently improved signing and road markings at this location but will continue to review the evidence in support of any further engineering measures.

"We continuously monitor police official records of collisions and prioritise sites where this evidence highlights the need for additional measures."