URGENT safety improvements will be in place as soon as possible at a road junction where an elderly woman died in an accident.Short term measures will be installed in the near future at the junction of the B1083 and C340, close to Woodbridge Airfield and the National Trust's exhibition centre at Sutton Hoo.

By Richard Smith

URGENT safety improvements will be in place as soon as possible at a road junction where an elderly woman died in an accident.

Short term measures will be installed in the near future at the junction of the B1083 and C340, close to Woodbridge Airfield and the National Trust's exhibition centre at Sutton Hoo.

Suffolk county council has responded to a long-running campaign which was given added impetus by the death of Hollesley resident Margaret Emmens, 72, in January in a three-car accident.

Peter Monk, county councillor for Bawdsey, is a regular user of the roads and he said: "The junction will be realigned using white paint and a ''phantom island'' will be put in.

"The effect will be that people coming from Hollesley will have to turn left before they turn right at the junction.

''I will be still pressing for a more permanent traffic island and realignment but that will need some land acquisition.

"There has also been a problem with visitors to Sutton Hoo who come up the hill from Bromeswell and then over shoot the turning into Sutton Hoo.

"They have then carried on to the junction and turned round there to go back to Sutton Hoo which is very dangerous.

"Therefore better marking is to be placed outside Sutton Hoo and on the hill leading up to it.

"In the long term we need to look at all the options for the junction but in the meantime we do have increased traffic in the area from visitors going to Sutton Hoo and the use of the Woodbridge base.''

The Ministry of Defence is opening a new barracks next year at Woodbridge Airfield for the 23 Engineer Regiment and hundreds of soldiers and various types of military equipment will be using the junction of the B1083 and C340.

The MoD has rejected requests that it could pay for safety work from the £100million budget for the new barracks.

Cllr Monk said it would have been a ''small price to pay'' for the Army to make a contribution to the community.

But the Army is to monitor traffic levels on the roads in the years following the opening of the barracks, and liase with the county council about traffic issues.