A COUPLE have slammed delays in building an A64 flyover after inquests heard how two pedestrians - including their son - died trying to cross the dual carriageway.

Colin and Chris Sanders' son, Jamie, 16, of Northallerton, died in January when he was struck by a car at the notorious Bilbrough Top junction, between York and Tadcaster.

Labourer Johnny Charlton, 19, was killed last October while trying to cross the road near the Aagrah restaurant, just half a mile down the A64.

An inquest at Selby was told that Mr Charlton, who lived in a caravan behind the restaurant, had gone out to buy some cigarettes when he was struck by a Ford Maverick on an unlit section of the westbound carriageway.

Selby Coroner Jeremy Cave recorded a verdict of accidental death, and a similar verdict an hour later at the end of an inquest into the death of Jamie Sanders.

The inquest heard that York motorist Annette Ingram had no chance of avoiding Jamie when he emerged into her path.

She said in a statement she had been coming home and was approaching Bilbrough when the accident happened. "I suddenly saw a person near the barrier on my right. He was very close to my car."

Traffic Constable Martin Smith said she had tested negative for alcohol and was only driving at 53 mph on a road with a 70 mph limit. He said: "There are problems with this junction. There have been for years. There are reports of accidents on many occasions."

He said lighting could not be installed at Bilbrough Top without having to put them all the way to Tadcaster, because it was such a bendy road, and the solution to the problems was junction improvements, allowing people to get across safely.

But the Highways Agency has said recently that objections to its scheme would force a public inquiry, and this could push completion of the flyover back from 2003 to 2004.

Mr and Mrs Sanders said after the inquest: "The flyover needs to happen as soon as possible, before someone else is killed and someone else has to go through what we have been through.

"Why does there have to be a public inquiry?" they asked, suggesting that "red tape" was to blame.

A Highways Agency spokesman said it had to go through statutory procedures. "If there are objections which cannot be resolved, as there are in this case, a public inquiry has to be held to allow all objections to be heard and considered."

Updated: 10:28 Saturday, June 23, 2001