ROAD campaigner Michael Maxwell hopes that Wiltshire Council may at last agree to changes at a notorious crossroads after it soared from 94th to 7th in the county’s most dangerous list.

Mr Maxwell was furious earlier this month when he was asked to leave a Community Area Transport Group that was discussing Black Dog crossroads on the outskirts of West Lavington, near Devizes.

He said: “ The last couple of weeks have become slightly unreal. First I am banned from CATG meeting by Wiltshire highways .

“Then I received an email from the Cabinet Member for Highways Bridget Wayman saying they have run the 2020/21 accident cluster reports and Black Dog has exploded from being ranked 94th to 7th most dangerous in Wiltshire.

“This apparently means it gets included in the road accident mitigation programme. I think the pressure needs to be kept on, to ensure there is not a cheap ineffective solution like new signs implemented to save money.”

CATG chairman and Wiltshire Councillor Richard Gamble is optimistic the leap up the league table may help to get work on the junction become a top priority.

He said: “It is of course a worry that so many accidents must have happened at the junction for it to move so far up the list.”

He revealed earlier this month that he had recently been involved in a near miss accident at the junction.

Mr Maxwell, who lives in Little Cheverell not far from the junction, has previously accused Wiltshire Council of waiting for a fatal accident to happen before it would take action.

He thinks a painted roundabout could be the easiest solution to the problem as it would help to slow traffic.

But Cllr Wayman responded by saying: “Mini-roundabouts are not a suitable option at locations where vehicles approach the junction at high speed.” She said funding allowed for up to 15 sites a year to be improved.