A RENEWED call has been made for “immediate” safety improvements at a Bicester road junction.

Town councillor Nick Cotter was on his way home when he saw the aftermath of a crash where Peregrine Way meets Wretchwick Way.

A motorcyclist and car had collided and the biker was being cared for by the ambulance service on Thursday last week.

Mr Cotter said the speed limit on the road, which currently stands at 50mph, should be “reduced immediately”.

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Langford Village residents have been campaigning for several years for safety improvements at the junction.

But they have been told by Oxfordshire County Council that money will only be available for the work once homes in Gavray Drive are built.

Chairman of Wretchwick Way Committee, Carole Hetherington, said: “We have had a safety survey and the county council agree there’s an issue.

“We are working with the council’s transport planners to see if we can get something done but money is the issue.”

The committee, part of Langford Village Community Association, has drawn up proposals for “laddering” lines to be painted on the road, which are designed to prevent overtaking.

They also want protective bollards around the right turn box.

Campaigners said it would cost £8,000 for the painted lines to be added and a further £20,000 for the bollards.

Mrs Hetherington claims there was an accident on the road about every three months and said the price of the work would outweigh the cost of the emergency services attending regular incidents.

Wretchwick Way is wide, has a 50mph speed limit and forms part of the ring road, but in the middle of the carriageway – between two roundabouts – there is a right-turn area with no protection for drivers heading into Peregrine Way.

According to campaigners some drivers travelling from the A41 overtake near the right-turn area.

Mr Cotter said: “It infuriates me. There’s a simple solution. This should immediately be made a 40mph limit – it’s absolutely ridiculous being 50.”

Figures from Oxfordshire County Council show there were 15 recorded accidents at the junction – including one death – between 1997 and this year.

A spokeswoman for the council said there were places in the county with a far “more significant accident record”.

She said the speed limit was reviewed in 2011 and no change was recommended.

No money was available for a new review.

She added: “It should also be pointed out that reducing the speed limit would potentially have the effect of encouraging more traffic to go through the town.”