ANGER over possible safety measures for a busy crossroad have come to a head.

A delegation of parish councillors stayed away from a site visit at Newtown Cross last Saturday to avoid interference from placard-waving demonstrators.

Nearly 60 protestors gathered at the Newtown Cross Garage to let the council know their feelings over the possible installation of traffic lights at the junction as a safety measure.

However, parish council chairman Michael Leigh said the decision was made to postpone the visit.

"We cancelled the site visit for two reasons - we needed to consult more with the district council and we heard about the protesters.

"We cannot make a sensible decision on the future of the junction when you have people shouting at you. We need a reasonable chance to walk around the road and study the possibilities at our own leisure."

But the protesters, who want a roundabout or road aligning as safety measures on the main Hereford to Worcester road instead of lights, labelled the parish council undemocratic.

Steven Morgan of Newtown Cross Garage, said: "The parish council are representing the parish and we wanted to discuss the issues with them. We were annoyed they did not show and it would not have been dangerous. It was just villagers and a lot of pensioners who wanted to show how they felt."

Mr Leigh said enough debate had taken place and it was now time for action to prevent accidents at the A417's junction with the A4103.

"We have held public meetings and the same views come up time and again," he said.

"Three people have died there recently and it is time we did something to stop the accidents.

"But we will not be able to make any progress while the protestors are shouting at us."