Most drivers could be stopped from using a road that saw four fatal crashes over four years.

Cambridgeshire County Council is planning to restrict access to Puddock Road to people who live and work there in order to reduce the risk of future accidents.

Councillors unanimously backed the plans at a highways and transport committee meeting this week (March 5), and called for the restrictions to be put in place as “fast as possible”.

A report presented to the meeting said there had been four fatal crashes along the road between 2016 and 2020, where a vehicle left the road and entered the adjacent watercourse.

The authority had looked at installing a “vehicle restraint system” along the section of Puddock Road where the accidents had occurred.

However, the report said this project was estimated to cost over £1.8million, which it said was not considered to be good value for money.

The county council has already agreed to reduce the speed limit along the road from 60mph to 30mph and is planning to include a 40mph “buffer zone” to the immediate south of the new 30mph limit.

Councillors have now backed plans to restrict who can use the road only to those with “rights of access”.

These restrictions are proposed to be enforced using automatic number plate recognition cameras, which the county council hopes to install later this year.

Councillor Bill Hunt asked if the restrictions could be put in place “quickly” as he said hearing from people in the area suggested the situation was “fairly desperate”.

Councillor Lorna Dupré said: “I very much welcome this, it is a dangerous stretch of road. There have been fatal accidents that have been mentioned, which is an absolute tragedy.

“One of the key things here is to stop people dying on the roads and I think this is a major contributor.”

Councillor Simon King asked if it would be possible to put up signs warning drivers about the uneven road surface, ahead of the speed and access restrictions being put in place. Officers said this was something they could look at doing.

Councillor Alan Sharp said he remembered using the road and agreed it was dangerous but highlighted that the county council needed to make sure farmers in the area were still able to use it following the introduction of any restrictions.

Councillor Alex Beckett, chair of the committee, said the county council was trying to get the project completed “as fast as possible”.

He said: “This is a really important one and I am really happy to see this moving forwards.”

Councillors unanimously backed the plans to put the restrictions in place. A Traffic Regulation Order is needed to create the new restrictions, and the county council has said a consultation will take place as part of this process.