Concern has been expressed over a dangerous junction on the A12 which has been the scene of three serious crashes in a month.

Town councillors at Saxmundham believe safety improvements are needed at the Rendham Road access – but feel community projects funded via any permission for the Sizewell C nuclear power station will be the only way to secure action.

Suffolk County Council is strapped for cash for major projects and the junction would not be the highest priority. The stretch of the A12 running past the town has several junctions and was the scene of a fatal accident last year when a motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a car just north of Saxmundham.

The town council was told that the A12 was closed because of crashes at the junction three times in November which caused traffic congestion around the area.

Residents voiced concern and labelled the junction “very dangerous”, a “terrible access”, and said signage was not clear, giving motorists arriving to join the A12 the impression that they had right of way if turning right, leaving them at risk of driving into the path of an oncoming car.

While several residents felt a roundabout would be the ideal solution, others felt bad driving was too blame. A lower speed limit was also suggested but it was felt this could not be enforced.

County councillor Michael Gower said building a roundabout would be a multi-million pound project.

He said: “I don’t think the money will be in the highways budget for a project such as this – it would be a major scheme.

“I think the answer, if there is to be a solution, would be to address the matter through the stage two consultation process for Sizewell C.

“If the county and district council and EDF agree on a Four Villages Bypass (for Farnham, Little Glemham, Stratford St Andrew and Marlesford) then we are going to have more traffic coming along this part of the A12 and quicker, too.

“The Sizewell traffic will create a knock-on impact on this part of the A12 and it could have further implications for the junction causing concern, so the town council could flag this up as needing a longer term answer to increase its capacity and safety.”

Town council chairman Roger Plant said the council would write to the police and county council on the matter.

He said: “A roundabout or similar solution could be a long way off, so we have to look at ways to address enforcement and bad driving.”