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Work begins at car smash blackspot - with video

Increased safety measures will be brought in at a notorious accident blackspot.

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Just one of the accidents that have happened at the Upton Crossroads on the A464 near Shifnal

Work has begun at Upton crossroads, just outside Shifnal, after Shropshire Council agreed plans to install new safety restrictions following a series of serious accidents spanning several years.

Upton crossroads has become one of the county's worst accident black spots and has seen a number of cars hit buildings along the way.

Temporary traffic lights have been in place for more than two years at the site following a car driving into a building.

Watch CCTV footage of one crash:

The council has carried out a full investigation and now plans to add permanent motion activated lights, as well as a slower 40mph speed limit, to help improve road safety.

The results from the report were published back in May, with proposed plans being now being given the green light.

Stuart West, former Shropshire councillor for Shifnal South and Cosford, said: “I am pleased that we have finally agreed on a scheme that we are able to progress, that has been successful in other parts of the county, and should make Upton Crossroads a much safer place.”

Residents have said that things are now well under way. The road will be closed until Friday from 9.30am until 4pm while the work is being carried out.

Shropshire Council said: "The speed limit is proposed to be reduced from 60mph to 40mph to assist with road safety for all road users at the A464 Upton Lane Crossroads, and to reduce the likelihood and severity of accidents."

Resident Tony Honicke, who lives on the A464 Upton crossroads near Shifnal previously said there has been around six to eight crashes in four years since he has lived there.

He added: "They are getting worse and worse.They come out of Shifnal, heading towards Wolverhampton, there's a bend and a massive straight. They go flying up there."

Mr Honicke said he had been first on the scene when a crash had happened in March 2016, where fire crew took over an hour to free the man from the car.

"It was horrible" Mr Honicke said. "Cars have crashed into the barn before and we've had one upside down on the junction. Apparently there were two fatalities 15 or 20 years ago."

One accident saw a car crash into a nearby derelict barn, while another was caught on a local couple’s CCTV camera involved a car travelling at speed, clipping a kerb and turning over multiple times and apparently disintegrating. Luckily, the driver escaped with only a broken leg.

The council has made a series of attempts in the past to ensure the road was made safer for motorists, including temporary traffic lights being installed back in 2016.

However, motorists were getting impatient with the time it took for the lights to change, and were continuing to drive though the red signal regardless.

There has been several proposed changes to traffic speeds across the Shifnal.

Changes have come after Shifnal Town Council joined the national 20's plenty where people live' campaign in a bid to reduce speed limits throughout the town.