A CRASH at a notorious accident black spot in Portishead has renewed calls for changes to be made to the road layout.

On October 20, a Ford Focus and an Audi hatchback collided at the Slade Road junction with Avon Way and Combe Road.

The female driver of the Audi had to be cut free and was taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary. The second vehicle mounted the pavement, ran through a fence and down a grass bank, coming to a halt when it hit the side of a sheltered housing bungalow.

The elderly driver and his passenger were treated at the scene by paramedics, but were not seriously hurt.

Passer-by Pam Thomas said: “It was lucky no-one was on the pavement at the time or this could have had tragic consequences.

“There are so many minor accidents at this junction, it was only a matter of time before a more serious one occurred.”

Traffic calming measures introduced at the junction in 2008 have been a bone of contention ever since.

Kerb widening and footway re-construction were part of an attempt to improve the visibility of vehicles emerging from Slade Road and also reduce the speed of vehicles travelling down the hill of Avon Way.

However, the resulting thumb projection of pavement juts out in to the road without warning signs and is constantly blasted by motorists who say it is a danger.

Cars parked on the opposite side of the road also often reduce the width of the road to that of one vehicle.

A nurse who lives in Brampton Court and did not want to be named, said: “Cars only see the protruding pavement when they reach the bottom of the hill and are within feet of it.

“They then swerve into the middle of the road to avoid it which is very dangerous.”

The platform is pitted and the metal post installed on it often leans where it has been hit by vehicles.

North Somerset councillor Reyna Knight, whose ward includes Slade Road, said she will raise the issue with the unitary authority.