SLOW IT DOWN: THERE are just 21 days left to sign our petition demanding road safety improvements on the A4 between Chippenham and Calne before it is handed to Wiltshire County Council.

The Gazette is campaigning to have more signs and road safety measures on the four-mile stretch of the A4 to help prevent accidents.

Chippenham Mayor Desna Allen and Calne Mayor Tony Trotman will present the petition to the Wiltshire County Council Regulatory Committee at 10.30am on December 17. They both feel very strongly that something needs to be done urgently to improve safety on the A4.

There have been eight accidents reported by the Gazette on the four-mile stretch in the last year. In one accident, on September 25, Geoffrey Smith, 60, of Calne, was killed on his way to work. There were four separate injury accidents on the same stretch that month.

On October 9, the Gazette decided enough was enough and launched a campaign to persuade the county council to take action to improve safety.

Assistant director of planning, Alan Feist, said the route was being investigated along with 49 others across the county that have an above average injury rate.

The council is also looking at the junctions at Derry Hill and Studley crossroads.

With budget restrictions, however, there is no guarantee any improvement works will be carried out.

A priority list of blackspots to be targeted for improvements will be put before county councillors in March. The Gazette believes the A4 between Chippenham and Calne should be on that list.

Support has been mounting over the last two months.

Last week the mayors and town councillors collected hundreds of signatures at Calne market in The Pippin, and in Phelps Parade.

Mayor Tony Trotman said: "There was a huge response. There were a lot of villagers and they all agreed that something should be done."

The petition now has over 4,000 signatures including the support of North Wiltshire MP James Gray, Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram, Hollywood actor David Hemmings, Lord Lansdowne and Chris Smith, the widow of Geoffrey Smith.

The Gazette wants to gather as many signatures as possible to indicate the strength of feeling and is urging people to sign now before December 17.

Petitions can be found at the Gazette's Chippenham and Devizes offices or online at www.dhbfc.org.uk

If you are a local business holding one of our petition forms please return them to your nearest Gazette office as soon as possible.