RESIDENTS are calling for urgent safety measures at the scene of a fatal car crash.

A man was killed on Wednesday night when his van collided head-on with a car and burst into flames on a bend on the A67 near Teesside Airport.

Farmers whose homes overlook the scene of the crash said that it was becoming an accident blackspot and claimed the road, between Darlington and Stockton, needed widening.

Brenda Harrison, of Low Goosepool Farm, Middleton-St-George, said: "It's horrendous. In the last three weeks alone there have been five accidents, two of which I've witnessed.

"We came home just a fortnight ago to find a car upside down in a ditch at the bend. We found out that the driver was in hospital.

"This sort of thing is going on all the time. The road needs to be opened out."

Another farmer - who asked not to be named - described the bend as a disaster area.

The 72-year-old, who lives on the Stockton side, said nine motorists had crashed through his fence since June.

"A lot of them just drive back out and leave. It's just a little bend in the road but people say they come round it and lose control.

"I've had to put my fence back up again and again and had a sheep killed, when a car drove over it.

"Signs have been put up but they don't seem to have done any good."

A man was airlifted to hospital last month after a crash on the road.

But Cleveland Police said there had only been eight minor accidents on the A67 in Stockton the last year. Durham Police said their stretch of the road was not an accident blackspot, with four so far this year.

A Stockton Borough Council spokeswoman said red markings had been painted along the edge of the road last year to improve safety.

"We have never had a request for road widening on that stretch. We will look to see if anything further can be done in light of Wednesday's accident."