Local campaigners fighting to cut the speed limit on a ‘dangerous’ stretch of road before ‘someone gets killed’ told the Chronicle they have been ‘ignored’ by councillors.

Mike Davies, of Wern-y-cwrt, Raglan, say he and fellow residents have spent two years lobbying the county council, Westminster, and Cardiff representatives, to slash the speed limit to 30mph on the road between the new Monmouthshire Livestock Centre, at Bryngwyn, near Raglan, and Cripple Creek.

“It seems a crazy situation that our road safety does not seem to be of concern to the traffic authorities, or police as to date, none of us have been killed,”?saud Mr Davies

“My wife was involved in a head-on collision back in November. The problem is with visibility. The bend, which is served by a 50mph road, is blind. We have to listen for cars coming, before we can take the risk and get on to the road ourselves,” said Mr Davies.

“We cannot safely access the road. We really can’t see if anything is coming. And at fifty miles per hour there’s no chance of oncoming cars stopping in time.”

“There have been several accidents and near-misses,” he added.

Mr Davies said the group has pleaded with Monmouthshire County Council for the last two years, after several accidents happened on the problem stretch of road connecting the cluster of six properties to the B4598.

“If the council gave us a concrete reason as to why they can’t or won’t do anything about this, we could at least weigh-up the options. But they haven’t, so, we are left with wondering why.”

He added his efforts had stalled at council level, with little in the way of progress being made.

“We’ve hit a blank wall,” he said.

“Our only options left are to involve the press, both locally and nationally, or wait for a fatality.”

David Davies, MP for Monmouth, said he backed the campaign to cut the speed limit to 30mph, and was working towards an agreement with all parties involved.

“The turning into the road is clearly very dangerous at this point. Visibility is poor and drivers are unlikely to realise that there is a possibility of cars pulling out,” he said.

“I would strongly support a speed reduction over this stretch of road. I have contacted the Local Authority to ask them to investigate and will keep trying.”

But a Monmouthshire County Council spokesman claimed the issue was not on MCC’s agenda, and that the speed limit Mr Davies and his neighbours are fighting to cut is in line with national standards.

“Our assessment of this section of the former A40 Abergavenny to Raglan road indicates that the existing speed limit is appropriate, in line with national guidance and similar to that of many other rural roads throughout Monmouthshire.

Signage has been provided to highlight the concealed access to the properties while residents have previously been advised that they should cut back their boundary hedges to improve visibility.”

A spokesperson for speeding awareness group, BRAKE, said the organisation supported the drive to cut the speed limit, linking the dangers to a national picture.

“We welcome this local campaign to reduce rural road speed and improve road safety. Shockingly, 40 per cent of all road deaths in Britain happen on rural roads, and the cause is often speed-related.

“The UK Government must act to put a halt to this carnage through a reduction of the national default limit on single carriageway roads. Slower speeds save lives and help make our streets more liveable environments”

Councillor Sara Jones said the issue was ongoing, and that the council had previously reduced the speed limit to 50 mph, although still short of the desired limit.

“A speed limit of 50mph was introduced on this road three years ago. Both myself and David Davies MP have since been made aware of the concerns of local residents and we will urge officers and the police to continue to look at what can be done to improve safety on this stretch of road.”