Delays to £450,000 scheme to improve notorious New Forest accident blackspot Ipley crossroads

"TECHNICAL difficulties" have delayed the completion of improvement work at a notorious accident blackspot in the New Forest.

Hampshire County Council contractors started work at Ipley crossroads on 4th October, with the £450,000 scheme expected to take six weeks.

But locals have been surprised by a "lack of action", with one reporting it looked as though the site had been "abandoned altogether".

A spokesperson for the council said "a number of technical difficulties" had hampered progress.

"Resolving these is taking longer than expected," they said. "But we remain hopeful that the work will be completed in the new year."

The project involves the installation of a new T-junction to improve the safety of the road by forcing traffic to slow and give way.

Signs warning of “cyclists crossing” will also be erected and road markings changed to complement the new layout.

The work, which was approved by the national park authority, follows the area being highlighted as an accident hotspot, with two fatalities and 11 serious-injury accidents reported between January 2011 and August 2019.

It involved HCC agreeing with the verderers a land-swap elsewhere to ensure the New Forest does not lose grazing areas.