A WIDOW is pressing for safety measures to be taken on one of the county's most dangerous stretches of road.

Edwina Gray insists that if Kent County Council refuses to provide them, she will find a way.

Mrs Gray is appealing for local businesses and people to back her campaign for flashing speed signs to be put on the stretch of the A28 from Great Chart to Tenterden.

Her 36-year-old husband, Philip, died in May 2003 in a collision near their home in Ashford Road, Bethersden.

The flashing signs, or speed indication devices (SIDs), cost approximately £5,000 each and Mrs Gray would like to see one placed on each end of the village.

The mother-of-three said: “If Kent County Council won’t pay for them then we can try to raise the money ourselves.

“When the road was closed for improvements after my husband’s death they put up signs saying 'work being done due to crash’ and my kids came to call them 'Daddy’s signs’.

“To get some proper signs would be a really positive thing for me, them and everybody who lives on or uses this road.”

In summer 2004, KCC spent £158,000 resurfacing the road but with three fatal crashes and four serious accidents taking place between when the improvements were implemented and December, Mrs Gary says it has not worked.

Bethersden Parish Council has also swamped KCC with requests for safety measures, including the flashing signs.

Chairman Keith Mitchell said: “We requested the interactive signs 18 months ago but they said they wouldn’t because they wanted to see how the improvements they had made would work.”

KCC says whether the road is suitable for flashing signs will be considered when the casualty reduction scheme is reviewed next summer.

Kent Highways spokesman Lisa Whitbread said: “Reviews look at how successful the works have been and if further measures are needed such as SIDs.

“SIDs can only be used in limited cases due to physical restrictions on where they can and can’t be used.”