A COMMUNITY traffic action group is calling on the county council to make improvements to its roads sooner rather than later.

Bicester Traffic Action Group (BTAG) wrote to Oxfordshire County Council at the beginning of August in 2018 listing several highway matters in the town that it believed required ‘urgent attention’.

Among the issues was the safety of Vendee Drive roundabout and road markings at the Oxford Road roundabout also known by residents as the ‘hamburger junction’, both locations on the approach into Bicester.

Kenneth Jarvis, 77, and Gillian Jarvis, 80, from Bicester both died after a collision at Vendee Drive roundabout on June 12 last year.

Co-chair of BTAG, Jan Harvey, said: “The council admit to the safety of Vendee Drive roundabout but nothing has been done despite people having been killed at that junction since our original letter.

“The roundabout marking has now virtually disappeared and apart from a few small signs there is nothing to indicate that there is a roundabout here at all.

“This again is leading to collisions and injuries.”

The group was told by the council that road markings at the Oxford Road roundabout would be renewed by the end of October 2018 but this has not happened.

Ms Harvey added: “We've had excuses from the council saying, ‘we’ve lost your letter’ or ‘there’s been trouble with our post room’. It’s like we’ve been crushed to the bottom of the pile.

“There’s been so many excuses and so we hope by raising this matter with you [The Oxford Mail] we might get some positive action.”

The group also feels that the county council is spending more money on the thousands of homes that have been built in Bicester over the years, but not on the safety of its roads.

Other areas of concern include; London road level crossing, signing on Buckingham Road/Middleton Stoney Road junction and speeding on Middleton Stoney Road.

ALSO READ: Man accused of causing deaths of elderly couple in crash appears at court

After the fatal collision last year at Vendee Drive roundabout, the county council told this paper that it was ‘looking closely at improvements which could be implemented’.

Cherwell councillor for Fringford and Heyford Ian Corkin called for more signs on the approach to the dangerous roundabout - which he described as a 'warzone'.

The man accused of causing the couple's death, Tahid Abdul, 41, of Wingate Close, Oxford, appeared at Oxford Magistrates' Court on February 4 facing two counts alleging that he caused death by dangerous driving.

As both of the charges are 'indictable-only', the case was sent to Oxford Crown Court for a further hearing.

Oxfordshire County Council was contacted for comment but failed to respond before this paper went to press.