A PENSIONER killed in a horrific road accident just outside Felixstowe port was today claimed to have been making an illegal manoeuvre at the time. The 80-year-old man is understood to have been pulling out of Anzani Avenue – a one-way street in the opposite direction – into Trinity Avenue after leaving the BP petrol station via its entrance, where there are "no exit" signs.

A PENSIONER killed in a horrific road accident just outside Felixstowe port was today claimed to have been making an illegal manoeuvre at the time.

The 80-year-old man is understood to have been pulling out of Anzani Avenue – a one-way street in the opposite direction – into Trinity Avenue after leaving the BP petrol station via its entrance, where there are "no exit" signs.

He then tried to turn right across four lanes of dual carriageway through a gap in the central reservation – a gap highways officials and councillors agreed to close several years ago but which has remained open.

It is understood he made his manoeuvre as an articulated lorry slowed down to enter the petrol station, but his car was struck by a truck overtaking that vehicle.

Police said the man – who comes from Felixstowe, but has not yet been named – was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident – as reported on the Evening Star's web site yesterday afternoon – happened at about 2.30pm.

The lorry was heading from the Dock Gate Two roundabout towards the A14 slip road when it was in collision with the grey J-reg Rover 416.

Police closed off Trinity Avenue and the A14 slip road leading to it for more than four hours as fire, police and ambulance officers dealt with the crash and arranged for vehicles to be taken away.

A police spokeswoman said today that a full accident investigation was taking place. No arrests had been made in connection with the crash.

Simon McCarthy, shop assistant at the BP petrol station, said: "No-one heard or saw a thing – one minute the road was clear and the next it was blocked with the crash. People came running from everywhere to see if they could help.

"From what we could tell, the car driver was pulling out of Anzani Avenue, which is a one-way road the other way.

"People do it all the time though – we have plenty of signs saying no exit from the petrol station onto the road to stop people going the wrong way down the one-way road but people still go out that way."

n What do you think should be done to make Trinity Avenue safer? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1ANB, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk

SAFETY Safety improvements for Trinity Avenue have been under discussion for some time – yet little has happened.

Four years ago agreement was reached to close the gap in the central reservation where yesterday's fatal crash happened to stop right turns and U-turns and force people to continue to Dock Gate Two roundabout and then turn back.

If that gap had been closed, the pensioner killed yesterday would still be alive today.

When the Evening Star visited the site this morning, at least four cars in just five minutes made exactly the same illegal manoeuvre – going down one-way Anzani Avenue the wrong way after leaving the petrol station by the "no exit".

The main problem though has been speed. Although it is a dual carriageway, the speed limit is 30mph – yet most drivers go faster.

Last month, town councillors agreed to raise the limit to 40mph, but not all were agreed. Some felt extra measures should be taken to enforce the current limit.

A scheme was also drawn up, agreed but never implemented, to put traffic lights at the junction where the A14 slip road loops round outside Anzani House to enable access to the industrial estate, where there have also been several crashes.