MORE than 70 people have died and more than 1500 people have been injured on the A140 in the last 25 years, it can be revealed today.The news comes as a lorry driver continues to fight for his life in Addenbrooke's Hospital, following an accident yesterday morning on the road, in which a van driver was killed.

MORE than 70 people have died and more than 1500 people have been injured on the A140 in the last 25 years, it can be revealed today.

The news comes as a lorry driver continues to fight for his life in Addenbrooke's Hospital, following an accident yesterday morning on the road, in which a van driver was killed.

Yesterday's crash at Creeting Bottoms between a bread van and a lorry happened at around 5.50am and saw the road closed for several hours while police worked to clear the wreckage.

The van driver, believed to be from the Norwich area died at the scene and the lorry driver who was thought to have been coming from a business in Braiseworth ended up ploughing his lorry into the garden of a nearby cottage.

Figures from Suffolk County Council show that 73 people have died on the Suffolk stretch of the road since 1980, and at least one person has died on the road in all but two of the last 25 years. On average two people die on the road every year.

In total there have been 876 accidents on the road, resulting in 1519 people being injured. There have been 56 accidents in which people died.

The Evening Star has campaigned tirelessly over the years to make the heavily used main road between Norwich and Ipswich safer.

The figures, released by Suffolk County Council, fluctuate throughout the 25 years, ranging from 20 accidents in 1997 to 60 in 1987.

The worst year for fatal accidents was 1996 with six deaths in that year.

Figures also show that, following the introduction of a controversial 50mph speed limit in June last year, the number of accidents slightly rose.

From January to June there were 12 accidents but in the six months after the speed limit was introduced there were 15.

A spokeswoman for the county council said: "The numbers did go up slightly but the total for the whole year was lower than it has been for several years.

"There were also no fatal accidents. Obviously, we would like there to have been no accidents at all but this is not realistic.

"We can never stop accidents occurring completely but what we can do is make sure that, when they do happen, they are not as serious. Lowering the speed limit can make a huge difference to the severity of accidents."

Peter Monk, Suffolk County's Council's portfolio holder for public protection, said: "Since we've taken the road over from the Highway's Agency we have made a number of improvements, including reducing the speed limit to no higher than 50mph on all parts of the road.

"Until yesterday, it seems to have been very successful.

"We obviously look closely at each individual accident and work closely with the police. If there's anything we can do as a result, then we endeavour to do it."

He added that the safety measures along the whole stretch of road are constantly under review.

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