Landlord launching campaign to make Shropshire border village's crossing safer

Residents of Llanymynech, near Oswestry, say they want a new traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossing across the A483 through the village.

They have warned that motorists are currently ignoring the zebra crossing near the Bradford Arms Hotel, with people worried that a child could be run over and killed.

At a public meeting held at the hotel, landlord Bob Hedley said something needs to be done urgently.

He said: "It has been a problem for the nine years I have been here, people just either don't see the zebra crossing as it is or they are not bothered about stopping.

"Just three weeks ago I was crossing and there was no vehicle in sight. Then a van came screaming up to me at about 40 or 50mph and the limit is 30mph.

"When I looked at him he gestured towards me that it was my fault. But I was stood on a zebra crossing."

Mr Hedley said that incident was the final straw and he has now launched a petition to get traffic lights introduced. He added: "I see all the children and mothers coming through in the mornings and after school and it frightens me that a youngster or an elderly person for that matter is going to get hit and killed.

"Something needs to be done now before we are sat here saying we should have done this before there was an accident."

Councillor Arthur Walpole, Shropshire Council member for Llanymynech, also backed the campaign.

"I have already raised the issue with the Welsh Assembly which is in charge of that part of trunk road and my colleague on the Welsh side of the village, Councillor Arwel Jones," he said.

"We need something to be done quick like new lighting to highlight the crossing is there and then hopefully we can copy our neighbouring village Pant and have traffic lights brought in. There is a garage, a bus stop and a pub all around it and it can be hard to see so I would suggest we get extra illumination in as a temporary measure and take it from there.

Resident Louise Reid added: "My daughter has nearly been hit on the crossing, we need to take action now before it is too late."

There has been a long-running campaign to get a bypass built to take traffic away from both Pant and Llanymynech, with backing from Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson.

The bypass was highlighted as a key priority in the Welsh Government's National Transport Finance Plan, but residents say something needs to be done more urgently.

Andrew Jones, a highways officer who attended the meeting on Tuesday on behalf of the Welsh Assembly, said he would report back with what he had been told. He added: "I will also ensure the belisha beacons are both fully illuminated in the meantime."

Mr Hedley said he will be drawing up the petition and handing it out in the village and at the hotel in the next couple of days.