Shropshire's most deadly roads: Map highlights county's crash hotspots

A breakdown of fatal, serious and 'slight' accidents has highlighted the A49 as being one of Shropshire's most dangerous routes.

The stretch of road has seen eight serious accidents at the stretch in Onibury, four serious and one fatal at the A49 in Little Stretton and three serious and three fatal crashes at the A49 in Dorrington.

All of the accidents have been recorded over the past five years.

According to the information, one of Shropshire's worst roads is Brockton Way, heading from Telford into Bridgnorth, where there have been seven serious accidents and one fatal.

The A5 at Crackley Bank and Weston Under Lizard has seen six serious accidents and two fatals. At Emstrey Island on the outskirts of Shrewsbury there have four serious and one fatal accident.

The A458 at Rushmere has seen three serious and two fatal accidents and there have also been six serious accidents at the junction of the A458 and B4380 in Cressage. At Shotatton on the A5 between Nescliffe and Oswestry, there has been one serious crash and seven slight accidents.

In Mid Wales, there have been four serious accidents and one fatal on the A483 at Llynderw, seven serious accidents on the A483 at Abermule, near Newtown, and four serious accidents on the same road as it comes into Newtown.

The figures come from crashmap.co.uk which gets its data from the Department for Transport. The data for 2016 is only provisional at this stage.

Anna Higgins, from the Safer Roads Partnership, said: " Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police have a very strong road safety and casualty reduction strategy, and reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads is a key priority.

"We have a dedicated road safety partnership that works closely with other agencies locally to ensure that road safety is a focus, through targeted education, engineering and enforcement activity.

"We will continue to work together with our communities and partners to make our roads safer, and we ask road users to do their bit by taking extra care and sharing the road responsibly - whether they're motorists, pedestrians or cyclists."

The Safer Roads Partnership enforce the speed limit on roads, local authorities have responsibility for engineering matters and any safety measures implemented on the roads.

It comes as Highways England has already announced that an order has been raised to reduce the speed limit of the A49 as it runs through Onibury, between Ludlow and Craven Arms.

The order will make official a temporary speed reduction covering the bridge over the River Onny, the rail crossing, and the junction with Back Lane at the stretch, that was put in place about a year ago.

Most of the A49, which is the main arterial road running through south Shropshire from Hereford to Shrewsbury, has the 60mph national speed limit.

Sheila Jeavons, clerk of Onibury Parish Council, said it was welcome news.

According to the figures the A41 to Tong has also seen five serious accidents and one fatal in the past five years.

And steps are already being taken by Shropshire Council to improve the junction and make it safer in future.

This will include reducing the speed limit to 50mph.

Alice Dilly, Shropshire Council's principal traffic engineer, said: "The junction on the A41 at Tong is currently being redesigned by our consultants, Mouchel, to incorporate a right turn lane.

"This facility will allow vehicles to wait in a safe area before turning right off the A41 into Stanton Lane and Shifnal, and will help to prevent the accidents that have been experienced here previously.

"The carriageway will be widened utilising the wide highway verge to provide the additional lane for right turning vehicles.

"Road signage in the immediate area of the junction will be reviewed and upgraded, and a 50mph speed limit is also being considered here to benefit not only this junction but the Offoxey Road and entrances to The Bell Inn and Tong Filling Station, which have also experienced collisions."

The work is set to take place in the coming financial year.

MP welcomes bid to cut speeds at two of county’s accident blackspots

The speed limit on one of Shropshire's most dangerous roads will be reduced under a plan put forward by Highways England.

An order has been raised by the Highways Agency to reduce the speed limit of the A49 as it runs through Onibury, between Ludlow and Craven Arms.

The order will make official a temporary speed reduction covering the bridge over the River Onny, the rail crossing and the junction with Back Lane which was put in place about a year ago.

Most of the A49, which is the main arterial road running through south Shropshire from Hereford to Shrewsbury, has a 60mph national speed limit. Sheila Jeavons, clerk of Onibury Parish Council, said the 40mph reduction is welcome news.

The A41 at Tong has also seen five serious accidents and one fatal in the past five years.

Steps are already being taken by Shropshire Council to improve the junction and make it safer. This will include reducing the speed limit to 50mph.

Alice Dilly, the council's principal traffic engineer, said: "The junction on the A41 at Tong is currently being redesigned by our consultants, Mouchel, to incorporate a right turn lane.

"This facility will allow vehicles to wait in a safe area before turning right off the A41 into Stanton Lane and Shifnal and will help to prevent the accidents which have been experienced there previously.

"The carriageway will be widened utilising the wide highway verge to provide the additional lane for right turning vehicles.

"Road signage in the immediate area of the junction will be reviewed and upgraded and a 50mph speed limit is also being considered here to benefit not only this junction, but the Offoxey Road and entrances to The Bell Inn and Tong filling station, which have also experienced collisions."

Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, said the planned work on the junction was welcome news

"This is a dangerous part of the A41. I am glad the council is taking action to try and improve the road. Far too many accidents have occurred there," he said.

The work is set to take place in the coming financial year.