A GOVERNMENT agency was yesterday accused of "sheer arrogance" in deciding to press ahead with the experimental closure of a central reservation crossing at an A19 accident blackspot against the wishes of local people and their elected representatives.

The Highways Agency was told by North Yorkshire councillors on Monday to think again about the controversial 18-month plan for the Black Swan crossroads, between the Cleveland Tontine and Crathorne interchanges.

The county committee for Hambleton insisted that the agency should first investigate the feasibility of a bridge to enable traffic to travel over the dual carriageway in safety.

Committee members also decided to press the agency and the police to introduce a 50mph limit, to be enforced with speed cameras, on the A19 around the crossroads, where there have been four deaths in five years.

Campaigners who opposed the planned closure warned that the resulting diversions would throw more traffic on to unsuitable minor roads and move the problem elsewhere, because slow moving farm vehicles would be forced to travel along the A19 to reach the next crossing point.

But less than 48 hours after the committee decision angry campaigners said they understood that the agency, which has claimed it cannot justify the cost of a bridge, was planning to close the crossroads within the next four weeks because road safety had to be balanced against inconvenience.

Colin Hinton, a Rountons parish councillor, who addressed the committee meeting, said: "People are just flabbergasted at the sheer arrogance of the Highways Agency and the next step is to consider forming an action group in local villages."

Local county councillor John Dennis said the Highways Agency was riding roughshod over local people and added: "I am disgusted that it can just do this because, if it gets this crossing closed, we have not got any lever at all to persuade it to put a bridge in."

County council officers had recommended the area committee to support the experimental closure on road safety grounds as long as the Highways Agency met the costs of altering signs and monitoring the effects on diversion routes.

Agency representative Jon Cole told the committee that there was great concern about the number of accidents and their severity at the crossroads. Accidents had continued despite improvements.

But Derek Lawton, chairman of Rountons Parish Council, claimed two alternative routes suggested by the Highways Agency were unsuitable and added: "The most effective solution would be for the agency to bite the bullet and build a bridge." As an alternative, he suggested a 50mph limit around the junction and a ban on right turns on to the A19.

Coun Hinton said the closure would virtually cut the Rountons off from Hutton Rudby and asked: "What is the point of wasting further money and time on an 18-month experiment when we all know what the long-term solution is?"

Coun Dennis said: "It is up to the agency to act quickly, because if it gets its way and closes the junction and there is a fatal accident on the by-roads, whose responsibility would it be then?"

Mr Cole said alternative solutions, such as a roundabout or traffic lights, would not work. He confirmed the agency would pay for altering signs and monitoring diversion routes.

A Highways Agency spokesman said the closure would prevent drivers from crossing the road or turning right into or out of local roads. A date would be announced later. Traffic crossing the A19 would have to use the Crathorne or Cleveland Tontine junctions.

He added: "The agency will review the possibility of a bridge, but even if funding was immediately available it would take a minimum of four to five years before it could be built.

"If we do not take steps to close the gap now there is a real risk of more fatal accidents in the intervening period. We accept that the move we are proposing will cause some inconvenience, but feel on balance that this is outweighed by the road safety benefits.