CHANGES to the A350 Lacock junction by Wiltshire Council, which were intended to make it safer following a number of fatalities, have come under scrutiny less than two weeks after being completed following another crash.

A woman in her 40s from Corsham received treatment for minor injuries to her ankle, lip and chest after the silver Vauxhall Astra she was driving was in a collision with a black Audi A4 just after 3.30pm on Saturday.

A man in his 20s, who was a passenger in the Astra, also received minor injuries but both were treated at the scene and discharged, while the driver of the Audi, a man in his 30s from Melksham, was reported for careless driving.

The collision is the first to occur at the junction since modifications were made by Wiltshire Council following a number of deaths and calls from campaigners.

John Boldon, deputy chairman of Lacock Parish Council, said: “We found out in August what the changes were going to be but we weren’t given any say.

“The general view of the parish council previously was that Wiltshire Council highways should have taken measures to slow the traffic down and stop the overtaking, but that hasn’t been done.

“I think it’s just the speed and opportunity for people to overtake that causes the problem, it’s excessive speed in a very small section.

“I think the jury is out on whether Wiltshire Council have done the right thing.”

The changes, which took more than four weeks to complete and caused traffic delays for motorists, include a signal-controlled right turn from the A350 into Mons Lane as well as widened lanes and improved markings.

The accident came when the driver of the Audi was travelling from Melksham to Chippenham and the driver of the Astra was travelling from Chippenham and turning right into Whitehall Garden Centre, an area of the junction which was not altered by Wiltshire Council.

Colin Goodhind, who travels through the junction on a weekly basis and works as a contractor at Whitehall Garden Centre, believes that the road should be reduced to a single lane.

“You have improvements that makes turning right safer, which is a good thing, there’s no doubt about that, but in doing that they have completely ignored the fundamental problem,” he said.