THE Evening Press campaign to Close The Gaps on the A64 was gathering momentum today.

Garage owner Lon Fila, who says he has lost count of the number of friends and customers he has lost in crashes on the road, is backing the campaign even though he knows it will mean a loss of business for him.

Mr Fila, who owns the Bridge Service Station, at Appleton Roebuck, is frequently called out to clear up wrecks from the notorious stretch of the A64 between Tadcaster and Askham Bryan.

"It is time the carnage was stopped," he said.

"Numerous lives have been lost and it's about time a stop was put to it altogether.

"I wouldn't want to count the number of friends and customers that have been killed on that stretch of road.

"What I would like to see is the gaps closed - and perhaps a big roundabout put in - to try to improve safety."

Closing the gaps in the central reservation which allow motorists to turn right across the adjacent carriageway would mean fewer customers at Mr Fila's garage, but he believes lives must come first.

The campaign has won the support of the police, councillors, local residents and the grieving relatives of the accident victims.

"It would mean a loss of business for me," he said. "Cars would no longer be able to cross over the road and come into the garage."I think I might lose quite a lot of business but that doesn't matter."

Selby MP John Grogan said he would be pressing for a clear timetable for closing the gaps when he meets Highway Agency chiefs this week.

Meanwhile, work started today on installing traffic-calming measures and improving the road surface of a busy stretch of the A64 between York and Malton.

Motorists face delays as 40mph speed restrictions have been put in place.

Hold-ups are also expected near Wintringham as new road markings are put in place.

About 2.5km of carriageway is being resurfaced between Lobster House and Harton Lodge, just outside York. The £380,000 scheme will take four weeks to complete.

New road signs will be installed at the junction of the A64 with The Lane at Wintringham to make drivers more aware of vehicles turning into the minor road. The improved signs - T-junction signs and red triangles - will be more visible at night time.

The scheme, which is expected to take two weeks, also bans heavy commercial vehicles in The Lane. They are being advised to use an alternative route.

A Highways Agency spokeswoman said the work was essential maintenance, and was separate from a package of safety measures due to start next month which includes improving road markings and signs between York and Scarborough.

These were ordered by the agency in the face of growing safety fears sparked by the death of six people in the past two months. Three of the dead were the Rev Barry Williams, Vicar of Rillington, his 17-year-old daughter Stephanie, and, only two weeks ago, Olympic and Commonwealth cyclist Peter Longbottom.

No major work for the A64, such as bypasses for villages between Malton and the coast, will be ordered until after the Government has published a white paper on an integrated transport policy in the spring.

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