Grandmother Joan Horner is pleading for gaps on the A64 to be closed after they nearly cost the life of her granddaughter.

Three-year-old Amelia Horner suffered back and stomach injuries when the car she was travelling in collided with a vehicle crossing through a gap in the dual carriageway central reservation.

The car was a "write-off" in the accident, near McDonald's restaurant at Bilbrough in January, and while Amelia, of Clifton Moor, has made a good recovery after spending three days in hospital, three others in the car suffered other injuries, including a broken backbone and broken wrist.

Her grandmother, Joan, of Calcaria Road, Tadcaster, says: "I think myself very fortunate that God smiled on us when my little granddaughter was involved in what was a very nasty accident.

"They were very, very lucky. All four of them could have been killed.

"Something must be done, as there have been at least two more serious accidents since then, resulting in serious injuries. Please get the gaps closed as soon as possible."

Amelia's mother, Margaret, of Ebsay Drive, said her daughter just had a bump on her back now and she hoped this would eventually go away.

Joan was responding, like hundreds of other readers, to the Evening Press Close the Gaps campaign.

More than 200 coupons in support of the campaign have been signed and sent back to the paper, and they were being presented today to Selby MP John Grogan prior to a meeting tonight at Tadcaster with Highways Agency officers to discuss the gaps.

The agency has this week announced plans to bar U-turns and certain right-turns through the gaps, but argued that complete closure of all gaps is quite impractical until it can achieve its long-term aim of an interchange with flyovers near Bilbrough.

People from all over Britain as well as North Yorkshire have been backing our campaign.

Coupons signed by drivers from as far away as Cornwall were faxed to our offices this morning to be passed on to the Highways Agency. Dozens of readers have written saying how close they have come to being injured or killed in accidents caused by vehicles passing through the gaps.

They have said that the dangers are worsening all the time as traffic flows increase on the dual carriageway, and warned that more people will die unless the agency acts straight away to close the gaps.

Petitions in support of the campaign have been circulated in Bilbrough, one of the villages which would be most affected by closure, with drivers having to take a detour to get to a flyover to cross the A64.

Bilbrough Parish Council chairwoman Dodie Grace said last night that the gaps should close now for safety reasons, with an interchange built as soon as possible.

Mr Grogan said today he thought the agency would be surprised by the strength of feeling exposed by the Evening Press campaign, and hoped it would be prepared to re-think its proposals for the A64 in that light.

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