'Potential for fatalities': Council urged to trim Leighton Buzzard hedges that obstruct drivers' view

The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, asked Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) when foliage at the Shenley Hill Road and Mile Tree Road crossroads would be cut.

He was worried that – now the autumn term had started – it was "only a matter of time" before a serious accident happened during the morning – with heavy traffic and commuters in a "rush".

CBC says it is “aware of concerns about visibility” and that it will be “taking action”.

The resident claimed: "Every day of delay from the start of school term increases the odds of another accident here.

"To highlight the lack of coordination, the council cut the tidy tip boundary hedges on Shenley Hill Road, and totally ignored the busy and highly dangerous cross roads 20 metres away where there is no visibility when pulling out onto Vandyke Road due to unmanaged hedges.

"The speed limit goes up to 60mph just before the bend, so cars come into the blind crossing doing anywhere between 40 and 60 plus.”

The resident also claimed that only four weeks ago there were two cars that crashed at the junction.

He added: "A team of two council contractors were cutting the grass for aesthetic reasons [on September 22] – yet the hedge still needs a trim for safety reasons."

The man says that he contacted CBC's environmental services team, who closed the case, and told him to contact Fix My Street – although he could not find a hedge cutting category.

He also says that he was frustrated that the environmental team didn't simply pass the case to the correct department.

In a message to the council, he claimed: "With such a high risk situation with potential for one or more fatalities, and most likely to be children travelling to school, you have decided...to just bat this back to me.

"If I was in your position I dont think my conscience would let me do this, I would seek out the department to deal with this and highlight as urgent."

CBC confirmed that there is a 'Grass and Hedges' category for Fix My Street.

A CBC spokeswoman said: "We’re aware of concerns about visibility at the junction of Shenley Hill Road and Mile Tree Road and will be taking action to improve visibility for road users by cutting back the hedges in this area.

"In relation to the suggestion of reducing the speed limit, any changes to speed limits would need to be considered through the appropriate traffic management process and would take into account a range of factors, including road safety and the characteristics of the road.

"We would encourage anyone with concerns about highways issues to report them through our online reporting system so that they can be assessed by the appropriate team."

The LBO asked for an exact date that the hedges would be trimmed – but the council was unable to confirm this at the time of publication.