THE death of an 83-year-old man on Tuesday evening on the A361 at Beckhampton has put road safety back in the spotlight.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash which happened at the start of rush hour at about 5.10pm.

A spokesman said: “A silver Kia Rio and a black Ford Ranger collided.

“The male driver, 83, of the Kia sustained serious injuries and sadly died at the scene. His family have been informed and our thoughts are with them.

“The male driver of the Ford sustained minor injuries.” The elderly man who died was from Gosport in Hampshire.

People took to Facebook on Tuesday evening to report traffic chaos after the road was closed between Bishops Cannings crossroads and Beckhampton roundabout for six hours to allow emergency services to deal with the aftermath of the accident.

A number of comments came from people worried about the safety of the road which has seen a number of fatal and serious injury accidents in recent years.

Although the cause of Tuesday’s crash is not yet known people who use the road are worried about speed of traffic and overtaking.

Avebury Parish Council Chairman Stephen Stacey said plans were in the pipeline to make the whole area around Beckhampton roundabout safer.

The parish council is in discussions with Wiltshire Council about ways to slow traffic down as it approaches the roundabout from both the A4 and the A361.

He said: “The bus stop near the roundabout on the A361 has been demolished a couple of times. It is time to do something to make drivers cut their speed.”

At the parish council on September 3 Mr Stacey gave a report on a meeting he had with other parish chairmen and a Wiltshire highways officer.

Draft minutes of the meeting show an idea for growing plants and grass on the roundabout to cut down on sight lines and make traffic slow down had been discussed and were to be taken up with Wiltshire Council.

The joint meeting had also looked at plans for all four access roads that join the roundabout to only have a single lane to again force drivers to cut their speed.

Witnesses should contact PC Pete Williamson at the Collision Investigation Team on 101.