A PENSIONER has called for urgent action to improve safety on a road he dubs "death mile".

Roy Winwood who lives just off the A449 at Newland, near Malvern, is stepping up his campaign to make the road safer.

But the 67-year-old says he remains locked in a 'David and Goliath' struggle with highways chiefs to get something done.

Official statistics supplied by the Safer Roads Partnership show there was one fatal crash on the road and two serious collisions between 2012 and 2014 but 67-year-old Mr Winwood says this data is just the 'tip of the iceberg'.

Mr Winwood said: "Unless someone is seriously injured or killed they just don't know about it."

Mr Winwood successfully campaigned for safety measures at his previous address at one of the cottages at the sharp bend on the A443 at Abberley and now wants the safety of the A449 to be improved.

Mr Winwood previously suggested the speed limit on the A449 be reduced to 50mph but he says he does not believe this will happen.

However, he wants to see a more visible police presence, speed enforcement and possibly the narrowing of the road, removing the short dual carriageway section which he said left drivers who overtook other cars with 'nowhere to go' when the road returned to a single carriageway.

Worcestershire County Council admitted to MP Harriett Baldwin in 2013 that the recorded 'personal injury collision data' represented 'only a fraction of the actual accidents'.

Mr Winwood said there was a 'neverending number of accidents' on the road between Powick and Malvern which showed 'the urgent need for action'.

Mr Winwood has personally logged 67 crashes on the road between January 2005 and March 2013.

Alex Martin, aged 27, of Malvern died on the road after his car collided with a lorry in November 21, 2012 although speed was not considered by police to have been a factor in his death.

More recently the Worcester News reported how a motorcyclist suffered multiple broken bones following a collision with a Mercedes at Newland on the A449 on Saturday, March 7.

Mr Winwood said there had been four personal injury accidents between January and March this year alone and this showed that Worcestershire County Council must 'deal with this road once and for all and stop making excuses'.

The road is 60mph but the 40mph sections were extended out of Malvern in 2012 but Mr Winwood says it is not enough.

Mr Winwood has been told that the road does not meet the criteria for improvements.

The county council say there have been mean average speeds of 50mph or lower recorded along that section of the A449.

He said: "Numerous suggestions have been out forward by myself and others to make the road safer only to be met with obstacles, barriers and excuses which beggars belief.

"Worcestershire County Council use one road with an accident history against another location elsewhere with an accident history in order to argue that another location needs more priority and 'vice versa' which results in nothing being done anywhere and saving them money in the process which is a disgrace.

"For many years now the A449 between between Malvern and Powick has been called 'the death mile' which I believe is a phrase which sums up this stretch of road perfectly."

Conservative parliamentary candidate for West Worcestershire Harriett Baldwin said: “The A449 is a vital link road between Worcester and Malvern and I have previously supported the introduction of measures such as catseyes in the road to increase road safety.

“I know that the county council and Safer Roads Partnership monitor the road to make sure that the current speed limits are correct and I would support any action they recommend which balances ensuring free flowing traffic on this vital commuter road with reducing the risk of serious accident.”

Jon Fraser from Worcestershire County Council Highways, said: "We are aware of concerns from a particular individual and have continued to monitor that stretch of road since a fatal accident in November 2012.

"However at present, based on recent monitoring, there are no plans to reduce the speed limit or make it a single carriageway."