RESIDENTS of North Swindon have voiced serious concerns about the safety of Thamesdown Drive at a public meeting attended by representatives from Wiltshire Police and Swindon Borough Council.

During Friday’s passionate debate around the number of accidents, and importantly near misses, on the road, they made it clear that something had to change if an imminent fatality was to be avoided.

The meeting was convened by MP and fellow local resident, Justin Tomlinson, who said that the issue of dangerous and inconsiderate driving along the main route had been raised with him a number of times and was something he had seen himself.

While speeding was an underlying concern for many, it was the frequency of red light jumping and amber gambling that many said was their greatest cause for concern.

The discussion focused on whether the answer lay with costly re-engineering of the road, increased education, more proactive enforcement or a combination of the three.

It was clear that a majority of residents felt the time for education had passed and that the installation of cameras to detect traffic light offences was the only viable solution.

Nick Brown, of Groundwell West, said: “I’ve had that many near misses along this road that I’ve had to install cameras, front facing and rear facing, in my car.”

He spoke of seeing three incidents of red light jumping on his short journey to the meeting alone.

Fellow local resident, Michelle Howard, said: “I’ve been a wheelchair user for 30 years and I don’t get scared very easily.

“But I take my life in my hands every day when I cross that road.”

Another resident added: “I won’t let my 11-year-old daughter cross when the lights are red because I see too many young people, on mobile phones, ignoring them.”

Justin Tomlinson pointed to the installation of bus gate cameras on Torun Way as an example of a measure that had fundamentally changed driver behaviour and made a dangerous section of road much safer.

The meeting heard that the Torun Way cameras generated some 2,700 penalty tickets in the first nine months since their installation.

Coun Dale Heenan, Cabinet Member for Highways, told residents that around £180,000 made up of contributions from developers was available for measures to be introduced and that he was not opposed to that money going on cameras.

However he stressed that such measures would only work alongside a renewed road safety partnership between the council and the police.

Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson said he would welcome an approach from the council to tackle the problem and agreed to a meeting in the next two months.

However Coun Emma Faramarzi (Con – Priory Vale) stressed that when residents come to a public meeting and are promised action, they want to see it in the near future, not years down the line.

Coun Heenan said he was confident that with the necessary cooperation, some form of plan for the use of the available funds could be in front of the Cabinet within months.

The residents of North Swindon will now wait anxiously to see if the spirit of cooperation they saw on Friday is followed through into action and ultimately a safer road.