CAMPAIGNERS for safety measures on the A1 are becoming increasingly frustrated with the Highways Agency after it delayed a decision on improvements.

Speed cameras, a 60mph limit and new signs are said to have been proposed for the dual carriageway between Buckden and Southoe.

The Highways Agency (HA) was due to provide an update by the end of March but now says it cannot reveal the cost of the scheme and cannot say when a decision will be taken on whether it can afford it.

Fiona Shirley, chairman of Buckden Parish Council and the A1 Safety Group, which met an HA representative on March 5, said: “I would have expected to have heard by now. It would be good to know. We’ve been flogging away at this for years.”

Another safety group member, Alan Marnes, chairman of Southoe and Midloe Parish Council, said: “I’m astounded, although nothing surprises me.

“The promises we have had over the years have melted away. Short of sticking a stick of dynamite underneath somebody, I don’t know what we have to do to get them to move.”

Lorraine Sherrington, who represents Diddington on the group, said villagers had presented a petition to MP Jonathan Djangoly last month, demanding he brought up their plight with the Secretary of State for Transport. They have also started a Diddington Road Safety Campaign Facebook page.

She said: “The Highways Agency admits there’s a problem with the road but when it comes to the crunch, it takes no action.”

A HA spokeswoman said the feasibility study had been expanded to include speed cameras, which had led to the delay, and a decision would be made “later in the year”.

Any scheme would be progressed “as and when funding becomes available”. Similar schemes had cost about £1.7million, she said.