A CONTROVERSIAL road layout which has attracted a barrage of criticism since it was installed two years ago, is to undergo a major review.

News Shopper was flooded with protests after Bexley Council installed a series of built-out kerbs and traffic islands to slow traffic in Okehampton Crescent, Welling, in the summer of 2004.

Despite minor changes, the complaints have continued.

James Webb, 35, who lives in the road, near the junction with Plymstock Road, is at the end of his tether.

He claims there have been seven accidents in the past 12 months, four of them needing ambulance attendance.

Mr Webb said: "I am now getting fed up with having to attend the scene of these accidents and help the casualties while waiting for the ambulance service to arrive."

He added: "One day I fear I will see a dead body."

The NVQ assessor says if any other area had experienced the same kind of accident rate, it would have been dealt with by now.

And he claims a police officer who attended the latest accident last Wednesday, in which a young motorcyclist was taken to hospital with leg and back injuries, said the junction was dangerous.

Mr Webb claims the built-out kerb forces traffic into a collision course with opposing vehicles trying to turn right at the junction.

Now the new Bexley Council cabinet member for transport, Councillor Peter Craske has promised the road layout will be reviewed this year.

He said residents will be invited for their comments on the current layout and possible changes to it.

Views expressed by residents and drivers when the new layout was first installed described it as "an assault course" and "unbelievably dangerous".

A number of vehicles burst their tyres when they clipped the built-out kerb.

One car careered across the road and smashed into two parked cars.

Another man had his car written off after it bounced off one built-up kerb into another one opposite and irreparably damaged its suspension.

Mr Webb's wife's car was also written off just after Christmas after a collision at the junction.

At the time, Bexley Council said an independent safety auditor, traffic police and its own highway engineers were happy with the layout.

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