Speeds are to be cut sharply around one of Herefordshire’s worst accident blackspots – but only on a trial basis.

The new 40mph speed limit on the A465/B4348 staggered crossroads at Locks Garage southwest of Hereford, which has seen several crashes in recent years, will be in place for a minimum of a year.

Herefordshire Council says a decision will then be taken to either make the “experimental” order permanent or to return to the existing limits, which appear to be the national speed limit of 60mph on both roads.

Describing the junction as “one of the most prolific road traffic collision sites on the county road network over many years”, the council said it had already tried “numerous low-cost safety interventions to influence driver behaviour” involving signs, lines, road markings, realignments and resurfacing.

Yet between January 2020 and May this year there were nine vehicle collisions causing injury, including one fatality, it said.

A consultation of official bodies, including the police and other emergency services, brought no objections to the speed limit plan.

The fact that measured speeds at the juction tend to be well above 40mph, particularly on the northbound A465, “raises concerns regarding whether signage alone will be sufficient to reduce vehicle speeds to the desired threshold”, the council acknowledged.

For this reason the effectiveness of the new measures will be “closely monitored”.

The council will spend around £7,000 implementing the new limit, including on the now-completed consultation.

A petition by a local resident to limit speeds at the junction was begun in July and has since garnered 775 signatures.