AN accident blackspot is to be improved following calls for action from police and a concerned coroner.

Work started yesterday on a £100,000 scheme to close the notorious Black Swan crossroads on the A19, near Hutton Rudby.

The action comes after repeated attempts to make the dangerous crossroads safer.

The most recent project was a £40,000 scheme to realign the crossroads and improve signs, to make it more visible to motorists using the central reservation gap.

But the accidents continued. Four people have died since 2001.

From the middle of next month it will cease to be a crossroads.

Closure of the central reservation gap will mean right turns into Hutton Rudby off the A19 from the south or out of the village to travel north on the A19 will be impossible.

Similarly, right turns off the A19 from the north into the Rountons, near Northallerton, or out of those villages, will not be possible.

Highways Agency projects manager Jon Cole said: "There have been several schemes to improve safety at the Black Swan crossroads in recent years, but despite these improvements accidents are still occurring.

Since 2001, there have been four fatalities. This is obviously unacceptable and we are taking immediate steps to make the junction safer.''

Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield sent a written appeal to the Highways Agency urging action, following the death of 22-year-old hairdresser Joanne Devine, of Eston, near Middlesbrough, at the crossroads, as she attempted to cross the northbound carriageway of the A19.

North Yorkshire Police submitted a report on the notorious stretch days before Miss Devine died.

Despite modifications made to the lay-out of the junction after her death, the crossing retained its position as the worst blackspot in the Hambleton area.

PC Brian Rogers, now retired, the author of the police report submitted to agency officials, told the inquest: "My recommendation is that they consider closing the junction completely.''

The central reservation gap is scheduled to be closed on July 19, from 8pm.

Mr Cole said: "This closure will be on an experimental basis for 18 months, so we can monitor the effects of the closure on both the A19 and the local road network."

Inspector Chris Charlton, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "It is clear that action needs to be taken at this location. My understanding is the closure will be on a trial basis, but if it is the solution to the problem, it may well become permanent.