THOUSANDS of pounds donated for a road safety project are languishing in a council bank account.

Herefordshire Council says it has no intention of beginning improvements at the junction of Tan House Lane and the A4103, despite receiving donations of money and land.

Former Cradley resident Rev John Mosey, who has since moved to Cumbria, gave £3,000 last year to make the junction safer on the condition that the council began the work by July this year.

His friend Dennis Johnson, of Lychcroft Farm, agreed to give around half an acre of land for the junction to be altered and made safer.

Both men believe the junction is an accident blackspot because drivers emerging are unable to see without pulling forward into the flow of traffic.

Mr Johnson said that bigger vehicles cannot turn against the traffic without crossing the centre line and that drivers often scrape the bottom of their cars on the road because the junction is on such a steep hill.

He feels visibility would be greater and the hill less steep if a new junction was built using the land he has already signed over to the council.

"I'm afraid there's going to be an accident. The council is waiting for a fatality but I don't want to wait," he said.

Stephen Oates, the council's head of highways and transportation, said: "We have no scheme in our current programmes to implement this proposal and would only proceed if sufficient funding becomes available in the future, possibly as a result of contributions from local developments."

He said the council would retain Rev Mosey's donation until more funding became available, as a start date for the work was never agreed.

Mr Johnson will meet Mr Oates next week to discuss the situation.