ROAD safety campaigners on one of Britain's most dangerous roads are celebrating after a promise of road safety improvements from highway bosses.

A package of safety measures will be installed on the A59 at Beamsley near Bolton Abbey after a highway study by North Yorkshire County Council.

And John Pickering, who lives in the village of Beamsley, is hoping that a reduction in speed limits on the road will soon follow to make it even safer.

Mr Pickering and fellow campaigners had been worried about the dangerous junction of the A59 at Deerstones and Storiths, and where the road passes the primary school. At that point the road has two main lanes and an overtaking lane in the middle.

At a meeting last week highway bosses decided to make the Deerstones/Storiths junction safer by replacing the middle lane with a right turning lane with central islands

They have also decided to remove the climbing lane from the hill outside the school and put in a central island plus other road markings to make it safer.

Mortgage adviser Mr Pickering said: "It is going to be a big change. We are delighted that the councillors have backed us. I don't think it will be long. It is a very good result. Beamsley is going to look a bit more like a village and that is a very good thing."

Mr Pickering also said that two councillors on the Craven Area Committee had recommended a 40mph speed limit for the area to slow traffic down even further if it is adopted.

Last September a petition was compiled calling for a reduction in the speed limit from 60mph to 40 mph and other road safety improvements. The first names on the petition were the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

A North Yorkshire County Council report states that the road improvements will cost around £50,000 and the funding is to be allocated from this year's budget.

Mr Pickering said he was pleased that the county council had taken residents' concerns seriously and added that it was likely that the improvements to the road would go some way towards lowering the speed of the cars.

Craven district councillor Chris Knowles-Fitton has been supporting the Safer Speed on Beamsley Hill campaign. He said: "I am delighted that they are at least going to do something. I will support whatever can be done to make the road safer."

According to an article in the Sunday Times - excluding motor cycle crashes - the A59 from Harrogate to Skipton was Britain's most dangerous primary route, accounting for an unacceptable level of deaths and maimings.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said that recent road safety improvements were having an affect on lowering accident figures.

There were a total of ten fatal and serious accidents on the Skipton to Harrogate stretch of the A59 during 2003, the lowest total since 1997.

But campaigners want to see even fewer accidents and hope the planned improvements will work.

"It is a lethal stretch of road," said Coun Knowles-Fitton.