Safety appeal on Buttington bridge crashes

Residents who live near a bridge on the main route from Shropshire towards the Welsh coast have called for urgent safety action to be taken after a number of serious and fatal accidents.

The Cefn Bridge, on the A458 in Buttington, near Welshpool, has been the scene of a number of crashes in recent years, many of which have resulted in fatal or serious injuries.

The most recent saw a motorcyclist airlifted to hospital on August 1.

The motorcyclist, from the Midlands, collided with a car on the railway bridge, which resulted in the road, which links the West Midlands and the Welsh coast to be closed for six hours.

The motorcyclist remains in a "critical but stable" condition today, police said.

Robert Duncan, from Trewern, said he thought it was time something was done to make the bridge safer. He said: "The speed limit on the bridge is 20mph, but this doesn't deter many people, who don't know the bridge, from misjudging it.

"It turns in the middle really sharpish and many people can be seen accidentally coming over the central white lines."

Robert Robinson, Welshpool town clerk, said he was urging motorists to drive with more care on the approach to the bridge. He said the approach to the bridge has signs warning of the 20mph limit, but "some drivers choose to ignore it".

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said: "Two years ago we installed interactive signs at this site that are activated by vehicles to warn them of the road ahead. We are monitoring their effectiveness."