WASHFORD Parish Council is calling for a 20mph speed limit through both Washford and Bilbrook after a spate of accidents in the last few weeks.

In Washford alone, four vehicles crashed in the village in a ten-day period, and there have been several other crashes further along the A39 in Bilbrook.

Parish councillors have kept detailed logs of all the incidents and are calling on highways chiefs at Somerset County Council to lower the current 30mph speed limit.

Washford Parish Council chairman Cllr Phil Gannon said: "We have presented the information to the county council and want to see real improvement, rather than just 'tinkering' with a few signs and ignoring the real issues.

"Speed limits need to be reduced through Washford and Bilbrook to 20mph at hazard points.

"Failure to do so will lead to more serious incidents."

Since the beginning of September, two vehicles have collided with the wall outside Washford Post Office in separate incidents.

The first happened at 2am on Sunday September 8 and the second - after the wall had been partially rebuilt - at 4.45pm the following Sunday.

The previous day, Saturday September 14, a car overturned at Bilbrook at 3pm in the afternoon, then on Wednesday September 18, a boundary wall opposite Washford's railway station was demolished by a car at 8.30am.

That wall had only just been rebuilt after a previous accident.

Later the same morning, a Ford Ka came off the A39 as it climbs out of the village towards Williton, overturning into a lane alongside the pavement past the turning to Willow Grove at 10.30am.

Cllr Gannon said all the incidents appeared to have involved single vehicles and he did not believe anyone had suffered any serious injuries as a result.

"Luckily no pedestrians were involved either," he said.

However, because no-one was injured, the accidents are unlikely to count towards statistics which could see the village flagged up as an accident hotspot needing urgent road safety improvements rather than road sign changes.

A spokesman for Somerset County Council all but confirmed that was the case when he said: "Although our statistics do not show a major problem on the A39 through Washford, there are plans in the pipeline to introduce extra signs and lines to improve road safety."

Cllr Gannon said he feared the situation could be made worse under current plans to build more houses in villages along the A39, including in nearby Carhampton, as well as in Minehead.

"If Minehead and the proposed growth areas along the A39 corridor are implemented without addressing the real highway issues, then it will be intolerable for those who live along its route'" he said.

"No development should be permitted without addressing the infrastructure and supply routes.

"Minehead has been indicated as a sustainable growth area - I pose the question: 'Take out the A358 and A39. How sustainable is any part of West Somerset?'"