VITAL safety work on a Hampshire road dubbed Death Valley has been put on hold because of bats and dormice - on the day it was revealed it has claimed the life of another motorist.

Police and paramedics weee called to the A36 following the crash at West Wellow.

The 22-year-old motorist was pronounced dead at the scene after his car collided with a Ford Transit milk van and then a Renault Master van.

The van drivers, from Poole and Salisbury, were uninjured. The identity of the car driver has not yet been released. The fatality came as road bosses revealed that a planned roundabout designed to slow traffic has been delayed due to wildlife.

Bats and dormice are holding up plans for a roundabout at the Whinwhistle Road junction with the A36. The roundabout is now not likely to be installed before 2008. Environmental surveys must be carried out as bat roosts have been found in trees that need to be felled and dormice also live in the area.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley said: "Bats and dormice are bringing the progress of the road to a halt. It's frustrating, but the measures have not been forgotten.

Frustrating "There have been three independent audits and they have all come to the conclusion that the only way to make that junction completely safe is to put a roundabout there. It will slow the traffic down and make the junction safer.

"It is frustrating and a bit depressing the roundabout is still a way off. I was hopeful that by now the work would be starting."

Highways Agency spokesman Robin Millar said environmental surveys will take place over the next six months.

In 2003 the Daily Echo launched its Stop the Carnage campaign. Thousands of readers signed a petition for action on the road and in 2004 the Highways Agency announced a £770,000 safety scheme.

Speed cameras were introduced to the stretch of the A36 at Wellow, followed by vehicle activated warning signs and new white lines in 2004. The road's safety record improved, but the Whinwhistle Road junction still regularly sees crashes.

Last August, an elderly couple died when a lorry struck their car as they pulled out of that junction. The worst accident the road has seen was in 2003 when two people died and 12 were injured in a crash involving a minibus, a lorry and six cars.

Anyone who witnessed the crash at 12.35pm on Wednesday should call the Southern Road Policing Unit at Wiltshire on 01722 435356.