YET another crash on the A140 brought back terrible memories for Suffolk mother-of-three Kathy Sparkes - although she admitted she can remember precious little of the accident that left her with serious injuries on March 7.

By James Fraser

north reporter

james.fraser@eveningstar.co.uk

YET another crash on the A140 brought back terrible memories for Suffolk mother-of-three, Kathy Sparkes – although she admitted she can remember precious little of the accident that left her with serious injuries on March 7.

The latest accident happened yesterday at the same blackspot – and prompted renewed calls for action.

The female driver of a Volkswagon car was airlifted to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital following the crash. Today a hospital spokeswoman said she had a comfortable night and would be seen by doctors again later.

Mrs Sparkes, said: "My husband called me to tell me about the accident yesterday. It brought back some memories, although I'm lucky in a sense that I remember nothing, absolutely nothing about the accident itself.

"Even now driving past it [the Stoke Ash crossroads] doesn't bother me as much as it bothers my husband. Maybe now they'll do something about it."

She outlined the problem at the junction – saying the lack of space to pull over to let cars past meant accidents are likely to happen.

"I know that the drivers can be ultimately to blame but at the corner of Stoke Ash junction there's nowhere to pull over to the middle of the road when you go to turn.

"So you can end up holding up cars behind you and if you've got someone in a hurry they just pull inside."

Road users and residents of Stoke Ash have called for engineering works on the road, particularly at Stoke Ash, insisting that a roundabout needs to be installed to slow traffic down and make the junction safe.

Council road chiefs, who took control of the A140 from the Highways Agency last year, have ruled out large, expensive schemes such as dualling the killer road. Officials are currently poring over the results of a consultation exercise.

The Evening Star launched a campaign to make the A140 safe and that plea is reinforced with the continuing dangers on this major road link between Ipswich and Norwich.

In the last 20 years 79 people have been killed on the notorious road.

Kathy Sparkes said she was physically on the mend but that the crash had left deep emotional scars which have led to memory problems and mood swings. Where the nurse was once so capable, she said she now becomes easily flustered.

"If anything gets too complicated, I can't cope," she said.

Anne Cronin runs the White Horse Inn with partner Shane Aldridge. She said: "I don't really know what happened. It's a shame for the lady that's involved. I'm not surprised it happened because it's such a dangerous area."

The pub's 16th century porch was completely destroyed when a meat lorry collided with a car driven by Kathy Sparkes, of Wyverstone, near Stowmarket. Yesterday's crash came close to wiping out its replacement.