SAFETY measures are to be demanded at an accident blackspot following a spate of crashes.

A car overturned near a bend on Durham Lane at the approach to Eaglescliffe at the weekend, just days after firefighters had to use cutting gear to free a motorist trapped in another car crash near the same spot.

Two men died in a two car smash on the same stretch in June last year. The year before a motorcyclist lost a leg in an accident.

Speeding has been cited as a contributory factor in some of the incidents.

Durham Lane is not one of the 30 accident-plagued roads on Teesside presently targeted by speed cameras, but that could change - along with pressure for the twisting country road to be upgraded.

"Something has to be done before someone else is killed," said Sue Ireland, vice-chairman of Egglescliffe Parish Council, which will discuss the chain of accidents at its meeting next month.

"We have had two more accidents in less than a week.''

Despite two industrial estates operating off Durham Lane, as well as a new housing estate, motorists still regard the road as a country lane, Councillor Ireland said.

"Action must now be taken,'' she said.

"The volume of traffic on Durham Lane is far greater now than it was even five to ten years ago.

"I would like the police to monitor the speed of traffic and I think we need to extend the 30mph and possibly have a 40mph limit beyond that."

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "Requests to monitor the activities of motorists in an area where there have been a number of crashes in recent times will be carefully looked at."