Fury mounts over lack of action over notorious Ettington junction as biker is critically injured - petition launched

FEARS that ‘someone will have to die’ before anything is done about a dangerous junction near Ettington were raised after a biker was critically injured on Sunday.

Residents can recall numerous crashes as far back as the 1960s at the accident blackspot – a staggered junction where the Fosse Way crosses the A422 Banbury Road.

Two motorcyclists were riding along the Banbury Road at 12.20pm on Sunday (5th October) when one was in collision with a Skoda Fabia at the junction.

The biker, a man in his 60s, suffered serious head, back and leg injuries and was taken to University Hospital Coventry where he remains in a critical condition as of Wednesday morning. The driver of the Fabia was uninjured. Police said investigations are ongoing and have appealed for anyone who saw the incident or has dashcam footage to get in touch.

Meanwhile, anger and frustration has grown in the community over the continuing failure of authorities to address road safety issues at the junction.

Poignantly, there was an appeal for witnesses sign referring to a previous recent crash still at the scene when Sunday’s incident took place.

James Keitley, 58, a handyman who lives in Ettington, launched a petition in the wake of the weekend’s crash that accrued 600 signatures in less than a day.

The petition on the Warwickshire County Council website calls for “urgent action to improve the staggered junction following continuing road traffic collisions”. Once the petition receives 1,000 signatures, Mr Keitley and supporters are allowed to make their case at a council meeting.

Mr Keitley previously lived in Shipston and was involved with the campaign to get traffic lights installed at the then dangerous Portobello Crossroads.

He told the Herald: “We had to have so many meetings and really push to get anything done at Portobello. They kept saying, ‘Oh, it costs so much money’ – and yet people had been killed. I remember a young lad who lost his life one Christmas [Julios Catachanas, 25, in December 2014]. No one has died yet at the Ettington crossroads, but do we really have to wait until someone does before action is taken?

“We need compassion and for something to be done now to protect lives, and that’s why I started the petition. The community in Ettington and the surrounding villages all want to see a change at that junction. They’re all fed up with the number of accidents.”

Ettington Parish Council has long put pressure on Warwickshire County Council to do something about the crossroads, and invited the public to its meeting last night (Wednesday) to make their voices heard.

Parish council chair Richard Smith, 59, an engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, said he and his wife had both had collisions at the blackspot and described why it is so dangerous.

“Nobody really knows whose right of way it is because of the stagger on the junction. So that confusion doesn’t help anything at all when you are watching left and right – and there is also a dip on the Banbury Road coming from Pillerton, it’s like a vanishing point so people don’t see vehicles or bikes coming from that direction and pull out.

“I have first-hand experience, I lost my Škoda Fabia to somebody as I came through that dip. He crossed the road and wrote my car off. I very nearly did exactly the same thing to somebody else who was in the dip when I pulled out – luckily they slammed their brakes on. And then my wife wrote her Range Rover off there basically because both drivers thought it was their right of way – a car coming from Ettington had put his foot down and was on top of her before she knew it.”

Cllr Smith also points out that the roads in the area are used as a race track, especially with Caffeine and Machine being nearby.

“It’s just the odd one or two that don’t care,” he adds. “It just doesn’t help with the dangerous crossroads.”

Numerous people shared similar accounts of accidents and near-misses on the community Facebook page in the wake of Sunday’s crash.

Sallie Pountney even recalled an incident from the early 1960s. She said: “Accidents have happened at that junction regularly. I remember one very cold Friday night when a young couple had been run off the junction and into the ditch by a fast driver from the Pillerton direction. The couple were shocked and we took them in for warm tea and toast.

“There have been so many nasty accidents there, will it take a fatality for traffic lights or a roundabout to be installed?”

Councillors say they have been frustrated in their attempts to see action taken.

“We’ve contacted highways [at the county council] about various aspects of the crossroads and other road safety concerns, but as the parish council, we are almost powerless,” said Cllr Smith. “They’ve listened to us, but the response is minimal. It feels like they’ve got rules and regulations, and you get an almost automated reply depending on what the computer says the rules are.

“I would like to see a little bit of humanity in terms of looking at the situation and using rules as guidelines rather than strictly applied. It shouldn’t be the case that injuries or fatalities are used to tick boxes. That’s certainly sad for victims and families, but it does feel like authorities are waiting for these numbers.”

Stratford MP Manuela Perteghella offered her support to residents.

She told the Herald: “Concerned residents have contacted me in relation to this dangerous crossing. I also know that the parish council and residents have been campaigning for road safety measures for years. Warwickshire County Council must urgently provide a safety solution.”

Meanwhile, in response to Sunday’s crash, a county council spokesperson promised the crossroads are under review, telling the Herald: “We are aware of this recent road traffic collision at the junction of Fosse Way and Banbury Road near Ettington, and our thoughts are with those affected.

“This location has been under review as part of an ongoing scheme aimed at improving the road environment and enhancing safety for all users. We are currently progressing with plans that will consider a range of engineering measures, informed by collision data, site assessments and stakeholder feedback.

“We appreciate the concerns raised by the parish council and residents, and we remain committed to delivering improvements that reflect both community input and best practice in road safety engineering.”

Adding his thoughts, Philip Seccombe, chair of the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership (WRSP), said: “While I cannot comment on the specific circumstances as police investigations are ongoing, I fully recognise the strength of concern about this junction and the calls for action. It’s a section of road I know and use regularly and so I am familiar with the challenges it poses.

“Through the WRSP, we are taking a ‘safe system’ approach to reducing harm on our roads. This means looking at every aspect of road safety – from road design, through to speed limits, enforcement, education and post-collision response – and working with partners to identify where the greatest risks lie and where interventions can be most effective.

“The county’s engineering resources are limited, so it’s vital that any measures are prioritised based on evidence, focusing on locations with a poor collision record, where patterns of behaviour or activity can be identified, and where viable solutions are available that can make a meaningful difference.”

To sign the petition visit democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk.