SAFETY improvements at one of North Yorkshire's worst accident blackspots have been stalled for months.

The delays in completing the scheme on a slip road alongside the A64 at Bilbrough Top have been blamed on contractors by the Highways Agency.

An agency spokeswoman said it was now pressing the contractors to get the work done as quickly as possible.

The project aims to make it safer for motorists who leave McDonald's and other businesses and then want to turn left into Colton Lane End, a short distance further along the A64 westbound carriageway.

For years, a slip road serving the businesses and another serving Colton Lane End have been divided by a raised section of pavement.

This has forced drivers to briefly merge with the flow of fast, heavy traffic on the A64 inside lane before turning on to the Colton Lane End slip road. Motorists complained this was exposing them to unnecessary dangers.

The agency agreed last year to remove the obstruction and turn the two slip roads into one long slip road, enabling motorists to drive alongside the A64 without having to join the flow of traffic.

Much of the work was completed before Easter, leaving just a top inch of paving to be laid.

But drivers are still waiting for the paving work to be done, with a section of the slip road remaining coned off.

"The community wish to know when it will be completed," said local Selby District Councillor Brian Percival.

"I have been writing to the Highways Agency since Easter concerning this and have had no reply."

An agency spokeswoman said it was aware that surfacing work had not yet been completed.

"The contractor was aiming to combine this work with another contract elsewhere on the network," she said.

"The other contract has not yet happened, causing some delays in completing Bilbrough.

"We have asked the contractor to take another look at the situation and the work at Bilbrough will be completed as soon as possible."

Updated: 11:37 Thursday, June 20, 2002