THE temporary 10mph zone on the Leadon Way stretch of Ledbury bypass has been called "fake safety" by a Ross motorist who thinks it could lead to shunts.

The restriction is there at present to accommodate lights-controlled road works, including the building of a roundabout, for Barrett's new "Hawk Rise Estate", which will have an access opposite Martin's Way on the Deer Park estate.

Mark Holland contacted the Reporter to say: "An accident could happen. Some people might come down there at 30mph. All sorts of scenarios could happen, and at 10mph, you could be overtaken. In my opinion, it should be 20mph, and the stretch also needs an escort vehicle. As it is, it's fake safety."

But many other motorists do not agree.

Posting on the Voice of Ledbury Facebook site, Jan Long said: "The imperative has to be safety; 10 mph is safe and motorists need to be patient, Otherwise use another route, there are plenty of alternatives."

Kim Fletcher said: "The 10 mph limit is good. I noticed that there is a tarmac ramp as you approach the roundabout so it may be dangerous to increase the limit."

And Lyn Davies added: "Given the way the road is laid out at the moment anyone who thinks it's safe to drive faster than 10 miles per hour needs to seriously re-examine their driving.

"If it was a straight road it may be different. At the end of the day the road safety team have set the limit for that reason. If there was an accident because the limit was set higher everyone would be up in arms about it."

But some local people believed the lights may be changing too quickly, possibly because of the length of the stretch.

Kirsty Ann Boswell said: "I will actually say that a few times over the weekend I went through on a green with a few cars behind me and it was turning green the other end.

"The space is so tight for lorries sometimes; it’s not that they’ve jumped the lights at all."

But there have also been accounts of impatient motorists jumping the lights.

Diane Barnfield said: "I was behind a few of them one morning, and they were clearly racing through the red light."

A spokesman for Barratt asked motorists to continue to have patience, because of safety considerations.

The spokesman said: "A spokesperson for Barratt Homes West Midlands said: “Scheduled road works are currently taking place on the Leadon Way section of the A449 to install a new roundabout, which will enable access to our Hawk Rise development.

“Speed has been restricted to facilitate safe working and traffic management is in place for the safety of everyone. Approved signage is currently being used to update road users. The works are expected to continue until the end of July 2018. We appreciate the patience and co-operation of local residents at this time.”