ROAD safety campaigners have slammed the Government for delaying an announcement on whether it will back improvements to a stretch of the A36 known as Death Valley.

Ministers were due to say if the scheme would get provisional backing this month, but hold-ups in publishing a transport survey have postponed this until at least the new year.

Residents campaigning to improve the A36 between Codford and Heytesbury highlighted by the Wiltshire Times' Drive Down The Death Toll bid are angry they will now have to wait longer to learn if the scheme has a future. The three-mile section has seen three deaths and many serious crashes in 2003 alone and residents say it cannot be allowed to continue.

In July, Wiltshire County Council submitted an £8m proposal to cut accidents on the stretch. Any improvements to the A36 were put on hold pending the outcome of the Government's Bristol/Bath South Coast Transport Study.

This study has looked at what needs to be done to the road as a whole before any piecemeal changes can be implemented. The report was due to be published this autumn, but delays have meant the South West Regional Assembly will not vote on it until later this month. This means time has run out for the Codford to Heytesbury improvement scheme's inclusion in the Government's funding proposals, which are announced each December.

Campaigner and Codford Parish Council chairman Romy Wyeth said: "This is Government procrastination which will have serious consequences

in terms of shattered and destroyed lives.

"Anyone looking at the accident figures and doing their homework can see that it is not a cosmetic or frivolous desire on the part of the vast majority of those living, working or using the A36.

"I am frustrated and angry that despite all the evidence of the urgent need to improve this stretch of road those with the power to make the decision are dragging their feet once again. In financial terms this is value for money, maximises past investments and will save lives and pay for itself within a couple of years."

As the A36 is currently a trunk road it comes under Highways Agency control.

Spokesman Robin Miller said: "The Bristol/Bath South Coast Transport Study is going to go before the regional assembly later this month. As a result the Codford to Heytesbury scheme will not be part of the Government's local transport plan announcements for this year."

Mr Miller said the scheme could be included in an announcement early in 2004, but may have to wait until next December.