CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating the announcement of safety improvements on a dangerous stretch of the A171 between Teesside and Whitby.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council cabinet approved the £160,000 scheme at a meeting on Tuesday.

The main moors road has been the subject of a long campaign for new safety measures, involving local councillors and residents.

A 50mph speed limit is to be extended eastwards by a distance of -mile from the summit of Birk Brow, past Lockwood Beck, to Castleton Corner.

Meanwhile the potentially dangerous blind summit at the Danby junction is to be reassessed for safety measures.

Other main points of the plan include:

* advanced bend and give way signs at Charltons;

* high friction surfacing at both bends on the westbound carriageway at Birk Brow;

* a right turn facility at Castleton Corner;

* widening of the carriageway at Liverton junction and a safety barrier on the southern verge;

* rumble strips on the approach to Castleton Corner and Stanghow Road, in the vicinity of Lockwood Beck.

The proposed solutions have come as a result of advice from council officers and consultants Faber Maunsell, as well as from local knowledge.

Coun Steve Kay, who along with Coun Bruce Mackenzie has campaigned for the improvements for many years, said: "I am particularly pleased with the safety measures as the road passes Lockwood Beck. The road is a switch-back there and visibility is obstructed. It is an accident black spot.

"There were suggestions that the speed limit on Birk Brow should be reduced to 40mph and that the 50mph speed limit should be extended to the borough boundary at Scaling Dam, but these were rejected as too restrictive and too difficult to enforce."

He added: "Councillor Mackenzie and I would like to thank the people of Lockwood Beck, Stanghow, Lingdale, Moorsholm and Charltons for backing our long campaign to get these casualty reduction measures on the A171."

Coun Geoff Banner, vice-chairman of Danby Group Parish Council, also welcomed the news.

"We are glad they are doing something about the problems on the road, particularly at Lockwood Beck and Castleton Corner," he said.

"However, the Danby junction is just as dangerous as the Castleton one, and I am pleased to hear they are looking into improvements there."