Fresh calls for speed restrictions in Northumberland hamlet following crash

Belford Parish Council wants the 60mph speed limit through Middleton to be halved following the latest accident when a car crashed into a wall.

“Something needs to be done about it,” said Cllr Kerry Noble, who said it was the fourth accident he could remember there.

He suggested a 30mph speed limit from the East Lodge gate to beyond the Swinhoe crossroads or a 40mph zone from the top of the North Bank to the A1.

He said: "I know Northumberland County Council say it doesn’t fall within the priorities but, as a parish council, surely we’re entitled to make the suggestion given how many times it has been brought up.

“We’ve already asked for ‘slow’ signs but nothing seems to have happened so that should be a priority.”

Cllr Steve White felt a 40mph zone along a two-mile stretch of road would be ignored, while parish council chairman Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson felt it would be unpopular.

“I think people in the village wouldn’t mind a 30 limit through Middleton but we wouldn’t be very popular with people who live in Belford if we asked for a 40 from North Bank to the A1,” he said.

Cllr Julian Cunningham said: “I am not proposing a 30mph limit but we need some form of speed reduction there, whether it’s 40 or some other traffic calming measures because people zip down there at 60-plus.

"We’ve seen the mess that was done to the wall. If someone had been walking along that pathway they would have been killed.”

Cllr Noble proposed asking for a 30mph speed limit and this was agreed. The parish council will also ask for ‘slow’ signs to be painted on the road.

“They might do 40 through a 30 as so many people do but anything has got to be better than nothing,” added Cllr White.

The discussion was prompted by an email from a concerned local resident.

The county council has previously explained that due to the very small number of properties it would not be normal to reduce the speed limit in this location.

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