Witness plea after man is killed as car hits tree

Police are seeking witnesses to the accident, which happened at around 8pm on Tuesday on the A583 Kirkham Bypass, which claimed the life of John Antony Flitcroft, from Clifton.

Mr Flitcroft, 62, was in a blue MG which was travelling towards Preston when it came off the road and collided with a tree on the opposite carriageway near the junction with the B5192 at Dowbridge.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and the road was closed for four hours.

Although the cause of the collision remains unclear, fears have been raised that hundreds of new houses could compromise safety further on an already-dangerous road.

Kirkham councillor Liz Oades, said: “I’ve campaigned for years to get speed reduced on the A583 and that’s happened.

“I do believe it has been made safer but this is another tragic fatality.

“It saddens me and makes me worry because we’ve just had a planning inspector allow hundreds of homes with no road improvements, with cars accessing and leaving the site straight on to this road.

“So they’re going to be coming straight on to that road and will only be removing hedges and improving sight lines.”

Roman Way resident Denise Sawyer said: “The traffic has been bad since the Dowbridge road was closed for sewer repairs. Cars have been directed to Freckleton Street and this could cause confusion for drivers.”

A neighbour, who asked to remain nameless, added: “The road can be dangerous and there have been a number of deaths along here in the past.

“They’ve tried to make it safer over the years, including restructuring the Freckleton Street junction. I don’t know what else they can do.”

Another neighbour added: “We heard a bump over the sound of the TV. It was a bit of a thud.

“We looked out of the window and realised there had been an incident and called 999.

“There were lots of cars outside at that point. Maybe six to eight had stopped.

“It’s the first accident I’ve known at that spot, although there have been a few at the junction.

“Our thoughts are with the victim’s family.”

PC David Hurst, of Lancashire’s Road Policing Team, said: “This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who are being supported by specialist officers.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 101 quoting log number 1161.

Following Tuesday’s incident two accidents were reported near Junction 4 of the M55 yesterday.

Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to an accident around 1.40pm after reports of a car in a ditch with a 17-year-old female trapped.

The driver was released from the vehicle using cutting equipment and taken to hospital by air ambulance.

At the same time, two cars collided close to the Junction 4 roundabout.

One driver received medical treatment from ambulance crews, with the driver of the second car released by fire crews using cutting equipment and taken to hospital.