Call for road upgrade after crash

About 100 people have died on the A1 up to Edinburgh in 12 years

There have been renewed calls for the A1 in north Northumberland to be dualled after the latest fatal accident.

Police are still investigating how a woman was killed when her Renault Clio crashed head-on with a lorry at Scremerston, just south of Berwick-upon-Tweed, at the weekend.

The accident scene is near another blackspot - the notorious Duns junction, where campaigners have won some improvements which will be put in place shortly.

About 100 people have died in crashes between Newcastle and Edinburgh in the past 12 years.

Berwick councillor Lancelot Robson, who represents Bamburgh, said the whole single carriageway from Morpeth to the Scottish Borders should be dualled.

Regeneration boost

He said: "I came into Berwick on Friday and it took me almost half-an-hour to get there from Bamburgh.

"There was a council tractor cutting grass, there was a farmer moving his equipment about and there was a queue of traffic behind.

"Being stuck behind slow-moving traffic is when people get frustrated on a single carriage road and they take a risk. Sometimes when they take a risk they are involved in an accident."

Mr Robson said he also believed complete dualling of the road would also help with regeneration.

He said: "I think if the A1 was duelled from Morpeth to Dunbar, in Scotland, it would be the biggest shot in the arm that north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders could have."