MORE than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for the New Forest ’s busiest road to be made safer following a spate of crashes.

Highway chiefs are being urged to tackle the “appalling” accident rate on the A31 by imposing a 50mph speed limit and deploying more signs to prevent sudden lane changes.

The current 70mph limit even applies to an exit slip road with a pedestrian crossing half way along a downhill section.

Critics say many of the problems on the A31 occur on the Picket Post to Ashley Heath stretch, which is notorious for the large number of junctions and the absence of a crawler lane for HGVs struggling up Poulner Hill.

Earlier this year an elderly motorist was killed in a fourcar pile-up on the Ringwood flyover. Two months later seven people were injured when three cars collided on the A31 near its junction with the Ringwood to Fordingbridge road.

Now Ringwood Town Council has launched a petition that will be presented to the Highways Agency at the beginning of October. The signatures will be accompanied by a list of proposals that aim to cut congestion as well as reduce accidents.

One of the leading campaigners, Councillor Michael Thierry, said: “It’s not just a petition – it’s a document with ideas for the agency to consider. Better signage would hopefully result in drivers getting into the correct lane earlier and staying there instead of weaving from one lane to another – possibly because they’re not certain which one they should be in.

“The public response to the initiative has been absolutely brilliant. We have given people the option of saying whether they support the petition or not – and only one person has ticked ‘no’.”

Town clerk Terry Simpson added: “Everyone says we’ve got to do something about the A31. It’s often chock-a-block – Fridays in the summer are horrendous.”