03/28/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

Kevin Peacock (left) and North Wales Senedd Member Llyr Gruffydd at the entrance to his farm between Ruthin and Corwen

Farmer releases CCTV of crash after 18 incidents in 20 years

A FARMER fearing for his grandchildren’s safety has released CCTV of vehicles careering off a dangerous stretch of road onto his land – the 18th incident on his land in 20 years.

In one incident, filmed at night in March, a car breaks through a boundary fence and rolls over, coming to rest just yards from the family home of farmer Kevin Peacock – the third incident in less than a year.

In another, a driver misses a bend on the treacherous A494 stretch in February, again breaking through fencing before coming to an abrupt halt on his driveway.

It has left grandfather Mr Peacock, 54, determined to force changes to the stretch of national speed limit carriageway between Pandy’r Capel and Brynsaithmarchog, in Denbighshire – with his grandchildren’s safety the driving force.

He said: “They’ve changed the sign with a slightly different one and put red markings on the road but there’s a reluctance to do anything else.

“There’s a busy crossroads and cars are even allowed to overtake on that junction yet elsewhere on the road there are barriers where there are no houses and speed restrictions to 50mph.

“I’ve had 17 or 18 cars into the fence over the years and I’ve now been forced to put more than 200 tonnes of soil on my side and raise the embankment.

“If something happens to my family or grandchildren, because of their cars on their road, it’s too late.

“I’m extremely concerned for the safety of my family whilst using our own driveway and entrance.

“The potential outcome could be fatal should a vehicle leave the highway while we are on our drive.”

Mr Peacock’s family has lived at Llais yr Afon farm, between Ruthin and Corwen, for more than 70 years.

However during the last 20 years he says 18 vehicles have left the dangerous stretch of national speed limit road and smashed into the boundary of his farm.

The grandfather of four approached Denbighshire council, which said responsibility for the road’s regulation lies with North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency.

The road body told Mr Peacock, who has four young granchildren, it had organised an “ongoing scheme to improve signage and road markings along this section of highway following a Collision Investigation and Prevention (CIP) study”.

However he said it was already in place when the last two incidents occurred and has now released the shocking videos along with a demand for greater safety measures.

Mr Peacock said: “They need to look at the speed limit – it’s the speed which causes people to come off at that bend.

“Why not put barriers there -further down there are barriers where there are no properties.”

He said there are also average speed cameras on other sections of the road which he claims has “sent all the speeders to us”.

North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd has been trying to get something done on behalf of Mr Peacock.

He said: “Some of the drivers are travelling so quickly it means they are coming through the hedge and down the bank into the farm at terrifying speed.

“Anyone who happened to be there would stand no chance and I agree with Mr Peacock there is a real risk to life here.

“At the very least, barriers need to be installed to prevent that happening and a thorough review is needed to make this stretch of the A494 safer for local residents and other road users.

“That’s why I’m inviting the Minister for Transport to visit the site and to review the video footage so urgent action can be taken.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have recently improved signing and road markings at this location but will continue to review the evidence in support of any further engineering measures.

“We continuously monitor police official records of collisions and prioritise sites where this evidence highlights the need for additional measures.”

 

%d bloggers like this: