ANXIOUS villagers have renewed a long-running campaign for safety restrictions at a notorious accident blackspot near Selby.

Residents want traffic lights installed, or alternative measures taken, to increase safety at the infamous Chapel Haddlesey crossroads on the A19.

The stretch of road through the village was once so notorious that it was nicknamed "the cemetery", due to the number of floral tributes laid beside the road. A campaign for traffic lights to be installed failed to win support from transport bosses, but the parish council will today finalise a new set of proposals, in a bid to finally end years of waiting.

The junction involves a tight crossroads just north of a bridge over the River Aire. The road bends as it crosses the bridge, and residents say a high hedge makes visibility particularly poor.

Mr Metcalf said: "We have got ideas such as road diversions and traffic lights, but it might be signs that slow traffic down - that's another option.

"We are proposing various options, but something certainly needs to be done to change the status of that crossroads to make it safer - particularly for children crossing to get school buses, and elderly people."

Mr Metcalf has released a photograph of the junction to highlight the visibility problem. He says it takes a car four seconds to get from the brow of the bridge to the crossroads if it is travelling at 40 miles per hour, and says it is dangerous for anyone pulling out of the junction.

The parish council will meet tonight to finalise the details of a presentation to North Yorkshire County Council's Selby Area Committee, which is due to meet next Monday.

The campaign to install lights at the junction dates back to 1998, when the black spot claimed the lives of three motorists in the space of five months. Villagers at a public meeting at the time voted unanimously in favour of traffic lights, but transport chiefs at North Yorkshire County Council sparked fury when they rejected villagers' demands. They said lights may change the nature of accidents, but not necessarily reduce their frequency.

Lights would have cost £70,000 to install, and the council opted instead for a £15,000 project to improve visibility, and repaint road markings.

District councillor John McCartney said while there had not been a major accident recently, the villagers' fears were justified.

He said: "It's probably an accident waiting to happen again, and that's why the parish council and residents are getting concerned again.

"These calls have not been developed by the parish - they've been developed by residents who can see cars going past at excess speed.

"We do need stronger prevention measures there before there is another fatality."

Updated: 09:21 Tuesday, November 15, 2005