CAMPAIGNERS have warned officials that another accident could take place along a road where seven people have died in the past four years if action is not taken.

Wharram-le-Street residents, who have launched a campaign in an attempt to make the B1248 safer, are eager to hold talks with official bodies including the police and highways agency to discuss what measures can be taken to improve road safety.

Members of the parish council and the public, including owner of the surrounding land Lord Middleton, held a meeting to discuss what action they would like to see taken along the road.

Parish council chairman Roger Kay has called for an increase in police presence to monitor the road at peak times. He said: “This has been an ongoing problem for many, many years now. We are concerned that there is going to be another terrible accident and that it could even be in our village.

“We would like to see an increase in police presence and monitoring of the road at certain times. We are hoping that with the police we can get officers monitoring the roads at key times in the day when traffic is at its heaviest and hopefully some prosecutions can come from this.”

Mr Kay said that other people from outside the village had also been in touch to say they had seen “terrible driving” along the route.

In November, mother and son Iwona, 40, and Konrad Batczak, 18, and Rysard Orlowski, 47, all died in a crash along the road as they travelled to work at the Malton Bacon Factory from Hull, although there is nothing to suggest that poor driving had a part to play in that crash.

The village currently has a 40mph speed limit yet sees drivers going between 50-60mph and Mr Kay said the flashing 40mph signs currently in place for three months at a time before they are shared between two other parishes have had little effect on reducing drivers speeding in the area.

Local residents at the meeting suggested introducing speed cameras although Mr Kay warned that with government grants to local authorities being slashed, funding a speed camera may not be possible.

He said: “Our next meeting will be fairly soon once we have digested all of the information from the last meeting. Hopefully, we will be able to get together with the other groups and come up with a way to move forward.”

A Facebook page for the campaign is at facebook.com/Make-the-B1248-SAFE