NEIGHBOURS have won a battle to stop developers from building a house and driveway near an “incredibly dangerous” junction.

Developers wanted to build a new house in Upper Basildon, with an access road leading onto Aldworth Road. The four-storey house would have been between Maple Lane and Aldworth Road.

But they now won’t be allowed due to concerns over road safety — as the house would have been too close to a “scary” blind junction, which joins Maple Lane, Aldworth Road and Ashampstead Road.

READ MORE: Neighbours plea not to make unsafe junction ‘more dangerous than it already is’

Anna Wakeman, who lives nearby, said: “Living in the village, I can say with confidence that  very few drivers stick to the speed limit. In fact, the junction already presents a significant danger to all road users, especially pedestrians, cyclists and horseriders.”

She made the comments at a meeting on May 11 of the eastern area planning committee at West Berkshire Council, when councillors voted to refuse planning permission for the house.

Ms Wakeman said: “There have been a number of accidents and many more near misses, as a result of the blind corner and the speed at which cars travel along it. To place an additional access point near to the junction would simply add to the danger and be, frankly, irresponsible.

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“Steve the postman will park on Aldworth Road. He doesn’t park people within people’s drives; he parks on the road, and it is incredibly dangerous.”

Ms Wakeman criticised the council’s highways team for saying the plans would be safe, and said it appeared they had not been to the site to carry out a risk assessment.

Gareth Dowding, highways officer, said: “It complies with all of our visibility requirements.” He added that the council measures what is needed for the speed limit, not for what the actual speed is that people drive along the road.

When asked if someone from the highways team actually visited the junction, Mr Dowding said: “Where there’s a big question mark, we will visit the site.” But he could not guarantee whether anybody had gone to this particular place.

Councillor Joanne Stewart (Con, Tilehurst Birch Copse) said when she visited the site, “it was quite a scary moment to get in out”.

She added: “Coming round that road, I couldn’t see anything. Nobody would have been able to see the cars that were coming round, and they were coming round extremely fast.”