ANOTHER fatal crash at an accident blackspot has led to renewed calls for a bypass to cut the carnage along a notorious stretch of the A590, which passes through the villages of High and Low Newton.

The latest accident happened on a narrow stretch of road at Low Newton and claimed the life of Andrew Ferguson, 54, of Trent Vale, Walney.

He sustained fatal injuries when his Vauxhall Carlton taxi, travelling in the direction of Barrow, was involved in a head-on collision with a Scania articulated lorry at the exact spot where a motorcyclist from Heysham was killed just a week earlier.

The accident, which happened in the early hours of last Friday morning, forced the closure of the road for six hours.

Police statistics reveal that, since January, 1999, there have been four fatal accidents on the stretch of road from the Cartmel road junction to Barber Green.

Guy Richardson, who is chairman of the High and Low Newton Residents' Committee, said there was a feeling of "shock, disbelief and anger" in the two communities over what had happened.

"We will be redoubling our efforts to lobby whoever we can for a bypass," said Mr Richardson, who has already written to Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Collins calling on his support.

"Accidents like this traumatise the village.

Even though the people involved are not local, it still causes incredible upset."

Mr Richardson said it was a " debatable point" whether traffic-calming measures being planned by the Highways Agency, aimed at slowing traffic down to 40mph on that stretch of road, would have prevented both accidents.

He added that bypass campaigners were currently awaiting the results of a Regional Transport Plan public examination to see what priority the road is given in the North West region.

Mr Collins said he was "horrified" about the accident and added: "It enforces for me that the most urgent reason to have a bypass built is simply for safety reasons."

He said he would be sending details of the two fatal accidents to the Government's new transport secretary Stephen Byers and would also be contacting Cumbria County Council chairman Coun Rex Toft to discuss the issue with him.

"We have had a change in control of the county council.

Ostensibly, the policy was that the A590 and A66 had equal priority," said Mr Collins.

"I hope that the new group will push the

A590 bypass as the road building priority in our area.

That really has got to happen because there has been a great deal of foot-dragging over this."

Stuart Klosinski, industrial development manager of Furness Enterprise, one of the partners in the A590 Now! campaign, described the stretch of the A590 from the Lindale bypass to Newby Bridge as sub-standard, adding: "While the traffic calming proposals that the Highways Agency has proposed might go some way to making it a safer road, you still don't get away from the fact that the road is not built for the traffic flows and the volume of vehicles that use the A590.

" The time for talking and studies has got to stop and it's time for real action from the Government to sanction the building of the bypass, which is the only solution."

The taxi is believed to have picked up a fare outside the Martinis restaurant in Cornwallis Street, Barrow, at around midnight and gone to Kendal.

Police would like to trace the passengers and anyone with information should contact PC O'Hare at Ulverston's mobile support group on 01768-891999.

The name of the lorry driver, who is believed to come from outside the county, was not being released by the police.

He was shocked but unhurt.

An inquest into the death of Mr Ferguson was opened and adjourned until a date to be fixed at Barrow Town Hall on Tuesday.