TOWN councillors have confirmed a decision to provide £50,000 of funding towards safety improvements on the A141 in Huntingdon. As predicted in The Hunts Post last week, Huntingdon Town Council voted unanimously at its meeting at the Commemoration Hall on

TOWN councillors have confirmed a decision to provide £50,000 of funding towards safety improvements on the A141 in Huntingdon.

As predicted in The Hunts Post last week, Huntingdon Town Council voted unanimously at its meeting at the Commemoration Hall on Thursday to match the contribution agreed by Huntingdonshire District Council.

The money will be added to the funds for a light-controlled crossing to be built on the A141 at the Kings Ripton Road junction where 16-year-old Warren Hay was killed by a car.

A Huntingdon Town Council statement said: "The council's agreement to contribute £50,000 confirms its commitment to ensuring the safety of pedestrians at this junction, particularly since they may be users of the Jubilee sports pitches on Kings Ripton Road, which are owned by the council.

"The contribution is subject to consideration of detailed plans, which members hope will shortly be drafted by the county council as the highways authority."

Additional funds still need to be found for the scheme - estimated to cost between £360,000 and £400,000 - which some town councillors felt should be forthcoming from their district colleagues.

Councillor Chris Osborn told the meeting: "This is 10 per cent of our income. Wouldn't it be fair for the district council to do the same and give 10 per cent of their income?"

The funding by town and district will be added to the £200,000 promised by Cambridgeshire County Council, leaving s shortfall of between £60,000 and £100,000.

However, a spokesman for Huntingdonshire District Council told The Hunts Post there were no plans to rethink its contribution to the safety improvements.

"We have offered £50,000 and that's how it stands. They have offered £50,000 and we have offered £50,000 and we think that is reasonable at the moment."

The county council is still looking at alternative ways of funding the scheme and is confident that the money for the improvements will be found in the near future.

Maxine Hay, Warren's mother, has been campaigning to make the road safer since his death in May.

The teenager, an avid football fan and a pupil at St Peter's School in Huntingdon, died trying to cross the road to get to a football match at Jubilee Park.

At the inquest into Warren's death, Coroner David Morris questioned the county and district council about why nothing had been done to provide a safe crossing over the A141 to allow people to reach the park.

As reported by The Hunts Post, in December, the county council approved a £160,000 scheme to ban right-hand turns into and out of Kings Ripton Road, but said it would upgrade the scheme to traffic lights with a pedestrian phase if other councils helped with the cost.

The Warren Hay Road Safety Action Group has pledged to help raise some of the money needed for the project, and The Hunts Post is holding an online auction of football memorabilia.