VILLAGERS campaigning for speed restrictions at the site of a fatal traffic accident have been told they will have to wait.

The residents made the plea following a fatal accident on the B4042 near Callow Hill where a 30-year-old woman from Malmesbury was killed in the accident at 5.30pm on Wednesday.

Her Ford Fiesta hit a road sweeper which had lost control following a collision with a lorry between Callow Hill and Brinkworth.

The driver of the road sweeper was arrested by police in connection with the crash and has been released on bail pending inquiries.

People living in Callow Hill and the nearby village of Hook have called on Wiltshire County Council to install traffic-calming measures.

Hook Parish Council has even attempted to buy a speed gun to gather evidence for why a 30mph speed limit is necessary.

But Wiltshire County Council spokesman Matthew Woolford explained that the council was waiting for the outcome of a Government report into speed limits on single carriageway roads before considering any changes.

He said there have been six accidents causing injuries in the two-mile stretch between Callow Hill and the junction with the B4696 to Ashton Keynes in the last three years.

"A few years ago speed restrictions were requested by Brinkworth Parish Council and we installed a 50 mph speed limit on that stretch of the B4042 and we have not had any more requests for speed limits," he said.

"Because the Government is reviewing the speed limits for single carriageway roads it would not be sensible for us to change the speed limits at the moment if we reduced the limit to 40 mph and the Government says it has to be 30 then we would have to change all the signs.

"The situation in Hook is the same as in Callow Hill. We will not be considering any reductions until we know the decision."

But Lydiard Tregoz Parish Council chairman Geoff Yates said he had been campaigning for a 30 mph maximum in Hook for years.

He said: "In rush hour our village becomes a rat run for cars trying to avoid Junction 16 of the M4, something like a thousand cars passes through in just an hour.

"We wanted to buy a speed gun, not to do anyone else's police work, but to monitor the speed that cars were travelling at to support our campaign for a lower speed limit."

Caretaker Michael King, 47, from Callow Hill said: "I travel to work in Swindon on a scooter that does 60mph flat out and every day I have a long queue of cars behind me waiting to overtake, even where the speed limit is 50 mph."

Witnesses to the accident are asked to contact PC David Cooper on 01373 827689.