NEARLY 2,000 people have signed a petition demanding improvements to a Waterside road where a pensioner was killed, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Campaigners are pressing the county council to provide pedestrians with a safe route across the A326, which separates Waterside parishes from the New Forest.

The petition was launched last month amid growing fears for the safety of people who attempt to cross the notoriously busy route.

One of the first people to sign it was Frank Harrison, 83, of Noads Way, Dibden Purlieu, who was later killed in an accident near the Heath Hotel roundabout.

His death has fuelled demands for a footbridge or subway.

The petition was started by Dibden Purlieu resident Irene Plascott, who is planning to address Hythe and Dibden Parish Council on February 7.

She said: "We had already gathered more than 1,000 signatures prior to the fatal accident and have now got almost 2,000.

"It's a big issue. More people than ever are involved."

Campaigners have received the backing of Paul Vickers, head of an action group which successfully opposed plans for a container terminal at Dibden Bay.

Mr Vickers, 55, of Hythe, has contacted the county council in the wake of Mr Harrison's death.

The accident took place where residents regularly cross the road to reach Dibden Inclosure, an area popular with joggers, ramblers and dog-walkers.

Mr Vickers said: "I used the same crossing point for ten years and have first-hand experience of the gambit of negotiating the traffic.

"The A326 is the main trunk route in the area and is also a road on which people can legitimately drive at 60mph.

"There must have been many near misses over the years and I'm extremely concerned that we've now had a fatality."

Mr Vickers, the prospective Tory candidate for Hythe and Dibden in this year's county council elections, suggested several measures including speed restrictions, a central island refuge and a pedestrian bridge.

He added: "There are several crossing points on the A326, so we may need something doing to the road as a whole."

Fellow campaigners include Brian Dash, the Liberal Democrat county councillor for the area, who also played a leading role in the battle to prevent a container port being built at Dibden Bay.

Cllr Dash has spent several years pressing for a crossing on the A326.

He said action was needed to protect pedestrians, people trying to cross the road on horseback and pupils at Applemore College and Noadswood School.

A county council spokesman said: "Following a fatal accident we examine the spot where it happened to see if there are any steps that could be taken to reduce the chances of further collisions. It's something we always do whenever someone is killed on one of our roads."