Cycling campaigners have teamed up with a construction company to put up a shocking warning sign at an accident blackspot.

But Oxfordshire County Council has branded it 'illegal' and say it will have to come down.

Cyclox, the Oxford cycling campaign, and Cooper Construction of Witney, teamed up to raise awareness among cyclists of the dangers posed by works traffic on Botley Road, Oxford.

The scene of more than 30 accidents and two fatalities in the past five years, the junction of Botley Road and Roger Dudman Way is now adorned by a four-feet high image of a blood-splattered cycle logo, being pierced by a left turning arrow.

A Cyclox spokesman said: "One woman cyclist and another woman's unborn child have been killed and many others injured at the junction, by left turning HGVs delivering to sites in Roger Dudman Way.

"In spite of this, Oxfordshire county councillors have refused to meet with concerned groups or install warning signs.

"In an effort to make up for their indifference to this obvious hazard, we have designed a poster that gets the message over quickly."

Oxford-based traffic campaigner and children's author, Ted Dewan, designed the poster. He said: "The sign is shocking, but the thing that is really shocking is what is being allowed to happen on this road. Bones are being broken and flesh is being crushed."

County councillor, David Robertson, cabinet member for transport, said the council does care about safety on the Botley Road, but that the Cyclox sign would still have to be removed.

"We can't just allow people to put up signs on the highway," he said.

"But we want people to know that we do see the situation as a reason for concern. It is not that we don't care.

"We have had a study done, looking at a whole range of options to prevent any such tragedies happening further. And we have some treatment programmes we'll be looking at with cycle groups and other interested parties in the next three weeks."

Rachel Barker was killed by a lorry turning left at the Botley/Cripley Road junction in 2000 Lisa Harker, 37, lost her unborn child and almost her life beneath the wheels of an 18-tonne lorry, as it turned left into Roger Dudman Way in April 2004.

Mrs Harker, of Botley, Oxford, was 17 weeks pregnant, after five years of trying for a baby, but the child did not survive the impact.

The Cyclox sign has been sponsored by Cooper Construction, which is building flats in Roger Dudman Way.

Managing director Andrew Cooper said: "Whatever we can do to help prevent further accidents, the better."