Residents of Broadmoor are calling for urgent road improvements to Broadmoor Cross following a fatal accident at its junction with the A477 last week.

Seventy-one-year-old Dennis John, a popular resident of the village, tragically died when his car was involved in a collision at the crossroads on February 4.

The tragedy has galvanised the community, and within just seven days over 600 people have signed a petition calling for road improvements.

"Mr. John was a very popular, respected member of this tight-knit community," said village sub-postmistress Hillary Robinson. "What happened to him was a great tragedy, but unfortunately this has been an accident waiting to happen for a very long time."

Mrs. Robinson, whose family has run the shop in Broadmoor since the 1920s, said that the junction has been "a cause for concern to everyone who uses it for many years."

"While the accidents have not always been fatal, many people have been seriously injured and scrapes and near misses happen every month," she said.

"It's become such a notorious accident blackspot that some village residents won't even use it anymore, they'd rather drive a couple of miles out of their way!"

Mrs. Robinson said that there had been plans to alter the crossroads some 30 years ago, but these had never been implemented due to lack of finance.

"Something needs to be done," said Mrs. Josephine Steele, whose daughter Sandra was injured in a motorcycle accident at the crossroads when she was 17.

"She was in a coma for two weeks and is still having problems now nearly 20 years later," she said. "I can't believe that still nothing has been done."

"You take your life in your hands every time you use the junction," agreed Mrs. Ceri Evans, of 4 Broadmoor.

"It's not just cars crossing, but pedestrians have to cross the road all the time to get to the shop. School buses use it every day. Something - a roundabout, traffic lights, speed cameras - needs to be done to slow vehicles down. "

Mrs. Robinson explained that there was a 40 mph speed restriction at the crossroads at present.

"But that is only temporary," she said. "It was introduced because of road works further up the A477 towards Kilgetty and the signs only went up in the week before Mr. John's accident. Usually the road has the national speed limit of 60.

"This accident happened at a quiet time of the year; the situation is far worse during the summer. We have four caravan sites within quarter-of-a-mile of the crossroads and the amount of traffic rises fourfold."

Vice-chairman of East Williamston Community Council, Clr. Tom Ellis, said that they had repeatedly expressed concern over the junction for a number of years.

"It appears on our agenda virtually every month and at our last meeting, just three days before the accident, we again discussed the matter," he said.

"We have written several times to the West Wales Trunk Road Agency. We are running out of options."

"We are really getting cheesed off," agreed fellow community councillor George Thomas. "We have been making inroads to various authorities to try and get something done for over three decades, but things have always been put off because of lack of funding.

"What price do you put on a human life? It takes something like this tragedy to bring the situation to a head. People don't respect the speed restrictions, the only people who do are the people who live here.

"This was an accident waiting to happen and we want something done to do away with the risk of similar accidents in the future.

"Civil servants are there to serve us, it's about time they listened to us. Who knows what the situation will be like when the planned Redberth/Sageston by-pass goes ahead; it will only increase the speed of vehicles further."

"We need people to come and talk to us about the various options," Clr. Thomas continued. "Hopefully, following this accident, they will make a meeting the utmost priority."

Clr. Thomas suggested that temporary traffic lights be installed until such a meeting was held.

"There is such anger in the village over the fact that nothing has been done over the years," said Mrs. Robinson. "Some people are even talking about taking direct action and physically blocking the road.

"I think the fact that over 600 people signed the petition in just seven days shows the strength of feeling."

Copies of the petition have been sent to Clr. Brian Hall, chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council's highways committee; Mr. H. E. Roberts, director of transport and technical services; Nick Ainger MP; Christine Gwyther AM; and Mr. E. Williams, head of highways trunk roads.