PLANS to cut the crash risk at a notorious accident blackspot in the New Forest have taken another step forward.

Hampshire County Council has submitted a planning permission to convert Ipley Crossroads into a staggered junction in a bid to prevent more deaths.

It comes just weeks after the authority agreed to proceed with the £457,000 scheme.

Daily Echo:

Council bosses want to close an existing "arm" of the junction and build a new section of road to the south west.

A planning application submitted to the New Forest National Park Authority says more than 50 injury accidents occurred at the crossroads between 1990 and 2019, including two fatalities.

The application points out that northbound-southbound traffic on the C63 Beaulieu Road has priority at the junction.

But it adds: "The open nature of the crossroads has resulted in many drivers ignoring road safety at the junction and driving straight over the C63 without giving way.

"Numerous accidents have occurred where eastbound-westbound traffic on the C97 has crossed the C63 and collided with cyclists and other road users.

"A total of 52 Personal Injury Accidents (PIAs) have been recorded between January 1990 and August 2019. The includes two fatalities and 14 serious injuries.

"The frequency and severity of the PIAs is increasing.

Daily Echo:

"The prevention of another accident that results in serious injury or death is at the forefront of the justification for the proposed scheme."

The only public comment submitted so far has been made by a cyclist living at Thornbury Avenue in Southampton.

In a letter to the New Forest National Park Authority he says: "I support this application. It's always a nervous experience approaching this junction while cycling to/from Beaulieu as many drivers apply only to take a cursory view when crossing the junction.

"A friend of mine sadly died at the junction. A needless loss of life."