'Hazard removed' from blackspot

The speed limit will rise now work is complete

A £6m renovation scheme has improved a dangerous junction which caused numerous accidents, according to the company which carried out the work.

Speed cameras, which were erected in response to three deaths on the A1 at Stannington, will also be taken down.

A spokesperson for Balfour Beatty said the four cameras will be removed in two to three weeks.

The Northumbria Safety Partnership, responsible for the cameras, has defended the decision to remove them.

'Hazard gone'

Partnership spokesman, Ray King, said: "In the 40 months before the cameras were put in, three people lost their lives, two people were seriously injured and another 57 received slight injuries.

"In the 40 months after the cameras were installed, there were no fatalities, no serious injuries and just some minor collisions on that stretch of road.

"But now the engineering work is completed, you can't turn right across the A1 and you don't have to join the A1 from a standing start.

"The hazard to drivers is gone."

When the cameras are removed, the speed limit on the A1 at Stannington - currently 50mph - will revert to the national speed limit.