A group of residents in a village near Peterborough have set up an action group to try to stop Highways England closing one of their two access roads.

The Peterborough Telegraph reports that the closure plan is part of a multi-million pound dualling of a 1.6 mile section of A47 single carriageway between Wansford and Sutton, with Main Road into the village of Upton permanently shut to traffic by the winter of 2024 with all vehicles coming in and out of the village along just one route.

The report quotes villagers who say the route is not suitable for the traffic it would attract, is frequently used by slow moving farm vehicles, which are awkward to pass, and could also pose difficulties for emergency service vehicles.

Action group chairman William Burgess told the paper, “We are opposed to Highway England’s proposal to close Main Road. The Drift is a single track road with a sharp bend and no passing spaces and is often used by agricultural vehicles, which are difficult to pass.

“Part of the road is a steep slope and can be almost impassable during the icy weather. Another concern is that emergency vehicles will also face difficulties getting through. We are urging Highways England to rethink these proposals.”

A Highways England spokesman is quoted as saying, “These changes… resulted in the removal of one of the access routes into the village of Upton and to address this the remaining route will be upgraded to allow for easy passing points for HGVs and agricultural vehicles and in a safe manner which will be a significant improvement to the existing access routes into the village.

“Upton has also suffered from rat running which will be resolved with these changes.”

(Picture – Google Streetview)