VILLAGERS in Aiskew are calling for improvements to be made at a main road junction before 40 houses are built on the derelict site of a former gas depot.

About 40 people in Back Lane and the surrounding area, who believe the junction with the A684 will become even more dangerous, have signed a petition which has been sent to the county and district councils, and the police. Planning approval was given for the Persimmon Homes development last month.

It was also learned this week that some residents are considering contacting the ombudsman with concerns at the way in which the application to develop the former Northern LPG Supplies site was handled by Hambleton council.

The number of proposed houses on the 2.5-acre site was progressively reduced from 53 to 40 over months of negotiations between Persimmon and the local planning department.

The figure was down to 41 in April, when planning officers said the scheme should be rejected because there was no substantial landscaping on the northern boundary and a mature hedge which would help to screen the estate could be damaged or lost.

An amended scheme, designed to meet those concerns and involving 40 houses, was recommended for conditional approval last month. It was passed without debate by the planning committee, although one member suggested a site visit first.

The only access will be along Back Lane, where residents objected to the density, proposed house types, effect of the estate on local services and increased traffic hazards at the T-junction with the A684 at the top of Aiskew Bank.

Residents said they would have no objection to about 20 houses because a modest development would tidy up the overgrown site, devastated by fire and explosions in 1996.

Their fears about the volume of extra traffic expected to be generated by a larger development were fuelled in February by two accidents within a few days on the A684. Both involved cars waiting to turn right into Back Lane.

One householder who has signed the petition said: "With 40 houses you will have at least 60 vehicles. You can sit at the junction at peak periods just waiting to get out, so what is it going to be like with so many more people?

"Waiting to get back in is dreadful. Tempers are going to flare, people will get annoyed and will probably start to take chances. People around here are seriously considering going to the ombudsman about the way this whole thing has been handled."

It was claimed at the parish council meeting last month that the amended scheme had been rushed through by Hambleton without proper consultation. Residents had received letters calling for objections by June 19; the plans had been passed the day before.

The county highways department said one of the accidents in February, a rear end shunt, was the only one involving injury recorded at the junction in the last five years, but traffic conditions there would be monitored.

The county said it had examined the Persimmon proposal and had no objections because visibility at the junction met requirements for the size of development.

Mr Maurice Cann, head of development control at Hambleton, said 20 points had been identified in the planning officers' report and the views of the highways authority and police had been obtained during consultations.

The application was still awaiting formal determination because planners were negotiating with the highways authority and discussing with Persimmon the question of open space and matters including drainage.

Mr Cann said it was not unusual for the expiry date for public comments to run on after the date on which the committee met to discuss an application. If any new issues were raised they could be presented again, but there had been none in this case.