EAST BERGHOLT: Transport chiefs in Suffolk have been urged to get on with making safety improvements to a road through the village – eight years after the budget for the work was agreed.

When the new health centre was built in East Bergholt nearly a decade ago the developers agreed to help fund road safety work.

After discussions with Babergh district and Suffolk county councils, a total of �18,000 was handed to the county council for road improvements in January 2007.

However it has proved impossible for the parish and county council to agree on how the safety money should be spent.

The parish council had wanted it to be used to provide some flashing speed warning signs, but has so far not been able to agree with the county where they should be placed.

There had been fears that the time limit could run out before the money is spent, however these have now been eased.

Parish council chairman John Hinton said: “This has been going on a long time. It took some time to get the money in the first place.”

He said it was a relief there was no time limit on when the money should be spent, but he added: “After eight years from development being approved you can understand that the villagers are becoming increasingly frustrated!”

County councillor with responsibility for transport Guy McGregor accepted it had taken a long time to agree how to spend the money provided by the developers.

He said: “It has been difficult to come up with a scheme that everyone is happy with – we have guidelines about where these kind of signs can be sited and have not been able to agree so far.

“At the moment my department is still working on the budget for next year, but as soon as that is settled we will sit down with the people in East Bergholt and sort this out.”

n Are you worried about road safety in East Bergholt? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk