Highway bosses have promised to come up with proposals on how to improve road safety at a notorious accident blackspot “within a week or so.”

Officers from the Highways Agency met with representatives of the emergency services and local authorities on Friday to discuss safety concerns about a stretch of the A120 in Tendring district.

The A120 has seen nine fatalities over the last decade. Two of these were at the notorious Pellens Corner junction with another death taking place at Hare Green - locations between Great Bromley and Little Bentley.

The meeting was held at Clacton Town Hall to discuss a safety audit carried out following changes in road layouts made last year. The changes were carried out at the Harwich Road junction and at Pellen’s Corner but residents and councillors have claimed they have only made matters worse.

Among the conclusions in the audit were that over the past 11 months the frequency of accidents along that section was substantially higher than the predicted national average.

Essex asset manager for the Highways Agency, Eric Cooper said: “We will take away all the views expressed and come back within a week or so with a way forward. We need to look at what can be done now and also work on a longer term solution.”

Harwich and North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin also attended the meeting and promised to meet the government minister to discuss the matter further.

The meeting was called by Tendring District Council leader Peter Halliday and involved representatives from Essex County Council, Essex Fire and Rescue, Essex Police and East of England Ambulance Service.

Mr Halliday said he felt progress had been made through the talks.

He said: “It was a very constructive meeting and we now wait for the professionals to go away and consider all that has been discussed along with the evidence they have gathered themselves.

“They have promised to come back quickly with what can be done as a temporary measure and we look forward to that.

“We as a district council are not the decision-makers in these circumstances, and having had our say on the key issues we await the Highways Agency’s decision on the proposed way forward.”