VILLAGERS fear a demolished lamp post has created a dangerous potential accident blackspot on a major road.

The A167 route between Northallerton and Darlington carries hundreds of vehicles a day, as well as diverted traffic during major roadworks on the A1.

In August last year a vehicle crashed into one of the lamp posts in the village of Great Smeaton halfway between the two towns.

Veronica Piekosz, who lives nearby, said it must have happened in the early hours, and in the morning there was debris from a car and a tree and the stump of a lamp post, which has remained there ever since. After another crash last week residents say work must be done soon.

“It’s on a bad bend going out of town, on the turn off to East Cowton, it is a very busy road and at night it is pitch black, it really is dangerous particularly coming from Northallerton,” said Ms Piekosz.

“We thought they would come back and put in a new lamp post pretty quickly because it is on such a busy main route. Another night time crash on Friday was reported to the police, who say they are unable to put pressure on the Highways department to reinstate the light.

“The broken condition of the roadway after heavy lorries used it as a diversion during the A1 roadworks may also have been a factor. We were also concerned that people would think it was a dumping ground because of the debris left there, we did contact Highways and were told someone was coming out, but have heard nothing."

A county council spokesman apologised for the delay and said the lamp post was now due to be replaced in the week beginning February 12.

He added: "We will look at our online fault reporting facility to ensure it reflects when lamps are missing as a result of road accidents.”