ROAD safety has always been a top priority for me and is an extremely important issue.

Concerns feature prominently in my constituency mail bag.

Safety on the A64 is vital to both road users and local residents. I welcome the decision of Ryedale District Council to improve the A64 Brambling Fields junction, which will be of real benefit to many residents and businesses of Malton. It will ease the traffic in the centre of Malton, which can become very congested.

I also welcome the A64 Connectivity Study undertaken by North Yorkshire County Council, and I am keen to see action to follow up this report.

I have been working with the villagers of Rillington, West Heslerton and most recently Ganton to try to find a solution to their ongoing road safety concerns.

They are simply requesting the most basic road safety measures to be put in place at Ganton on A64, including reducing the speed limit to 40 mph and installing speed cameras and rumble strips.

What they are proposing would neither be costly to produce nor time-consuming and I feel must pursued.

I am seeking a meeting with Mike Penning MP, Minister with responsibility for roads. and answers from the Highways Agency as to why they will not take action now for the safety of villages like Ganton, West Heslerton and Rillington and asking them to provide a risk assessment for the A64 passing through those villages.

I am working with the Ganton Road Safety Campaign group to put together a petition to be presented in the House of Commons, which I hope will show the strength of feeling in this area and bring our local concerns about road safety to the attention of the Government.