Hunts Post readers want action now on the deadly Forty Foot Road between Ramsey and Chatteris. After five people died in six weeks, a readers poll was launched jointly by The Hunts Post and our sister paper, The Cambs Times. Nearly 90 per cent of those w

Hunts Post readers want action now on the deadly Forty Foot Road between Ramsey and Chatteris.

After five people died in six weeks, a readers' poll was launched jointly by The Hunts Post and our sister paper, The Cambs Times.

Nearly 90 per cent of those who voted want urgent action to prevent another tragedy.

Tomorrow (Thursday), two petitions will be presented to Cambridgeshire County Council calling for immediate measures to make the road safe.

One has been signed by more than 1,000 people who live near the road. The other comes from town and parish councillors from Ramsey, Chatteris, Warboys, Doddington and Benwick.

Yesterday, Cambridgeshire County Council announced that, within the next week, it would be secretly monitoring the speed at which drivers go along the road.

As reported last week, the council is already looking at the possibility of speed cameras. Councillors Ray Powell, from Ramsey, and Chris Howes, from Chatteris, will address the council's cabinet next Tuesday.

Councillor Howes told The Hunts Post: "Something has to be done. We will ask the county council to instruct its officers to prepare a proper report.

"We need to educate drivers to go slower and drive better. The margin of error is so small - once you are off the road, you are in the river or in a deep ditch."

We asked readers to tell us what measures they wanted after five people had died in two accidents.

Father and son Dean Hawes, 27, and Jordan, seven, from Chatteris, died when their car crashed into the Forty Foot Drain on December 21. They were travelling to collect Michelle Hawes from work in Huntingdon. On February 1, three Portuguese workers from Peterborough died on their way to work at an onion factory in Chatteris.

Jose Marmeleira, 49, Cidalina De Oliveria, 56, and Carlos Condecco, 46, lost their lives when their car left the road.

A fourth person, Jose's 19-year-old son, Miguel, managed to get out of the water.

Responding to the poll, readers called for a lower speed limit than 50mph, an overtaking ban and lighting.

Ursula Bulpitt, from Ramsey, who called for speed cameras and a ban on heavy goods vehicles using the road, told of:

* Drivers exceeding the 50mph speed limit;

* Large vehicles speeding and bouncing into the opposite carriageway because of the bad road surface;

* Dazzling or misaligned headlights;

* Having to stop because of the spray from lorries;

* The sunset blinding drivers from Chatteris as it shines in their eyes and reflects from the river.

Other drivers called for the road to be closed.