Action to be taken at Plumgarths roundabout in Kendal

Westmorland and Furness Council said new signage and road markings are to be installed at Plumgarths Roundabout on the edge of Kendal after concerns were raised by locals.

Among them is Robert Bell, an agricultural fencing contractor who has lived opposite the roundabout for 28 years.

Plumgarth's roundabout (Image: Google Maps)

CCTV outside the 59-year-old’s home has captured some of the crashes and near misses. He said since January there had been at least 18 crashes.

In recent years, he has noticed a sharp increase in accidents and near-misses at the roundabout where the A591 and A5284 meet.

He noted down the dates of the accidents as January 1, March 3 and 12, April 27 and 28, May 11, 21 and 22, June 1, July 6, 16, 22 and 26, and August 4, 9, 10, 12, and 14.

"Because of our proximity to the roundabout, we can see the intersection clearly and our CCTV has captured so many crashes,” he said.

"There have been at least 18 accidents since January, and they're only the ones I know about - there have been hundreds of near-misses.

"Something really needs to be done. It needs to be made into a proper roundabout - it's the give way that's causing problems.

(Image: Robert Bell)

"People approach it at around 60mph and they don't see the give way - or they see it too late and hesitate.

"In one incident recently, a car hesitated, stopped passed the give way right in front of a wagon, and the car ended up taking the full impact.

"According to sat navs, it's a full proper roundabout.

(Image: Robert Bell)

"It's the mindset that drivers have it is a full roundabout, it's not really a roundabout, it's an intersection and it needs to be changed."

In August there were two accidents at the roundabout in the space of 48 hours. 

A collision between a car and a van saw one person airlifted to hospital on August 14 which came a day after another crash at the same spot.

A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council said: "Following concerns raised to us by our local residents, the issue of Plumgarths Junction was reviewed at the Cumbria Road Safety Partnership; a multi-agency group consisting of Cumbria Police, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and the Council.

"As a part of our responsibility to review collision hotspots and examine causation factors, we commissioned an ‘Engineering Safety Study’ to analyse recorded injury collisions near to the junction over the last five years.

"The study identified clusters of injury collisions, which are spread across different approaches to the junction and have varying causation factors. It was found that some, but not all of which, related to the give-way element, and several improvements were recommended.

"Throughout Autumn 2024, new signage and road markings will be introduced to enhance road safety. Longer-term measures are also being considered through a review of the junction’s operation."