SAFETY measures installed after a Daily Echo campaign have brought a halt - temporarily at least - to serious crashes on one of Hampshire's most dangerous roads.

Speed cameras placed at an accident black spot on the notorious A36 have so far cut out collisions and fatal accidents completely.

It marks a victory for the thousands of Daily Echo readers who signed our petition for better road safety on a deadly two-mile stretch that had claimed five lives.

Work to install speed cameras at the Whinwhistle Road junction, in West Wellow, began a year ago this month.

In the five previous years, from April 1998 to April 2003, there had been 14 serious collisions in which people were killed or badly injured, and 45 minor smashes.

Five people died during that time and 61 were injured, 13 of them seriously.

Then, in June last year, two people died and 12 were injured in an horrific eight-vehicle smash. The two elderly people killed were travelling on a minibus returning to Countess Mountbatten House hospice following a day trip to the New Forest.

The collision sparked fresh calls for better safety measures on the road, which had one of the highest accident rates in the county.

Thousands of drivers, residents and traders signed up to the Daily Echo's campaign to cut the carnage, and it won cross-party support from Hampshire politicians.

Transport minister David Jamieson even paid a visit to Wellow to see what could be done about the road.

Cameras were installed and there has not been a single serious injury there since.

Speeding has also been dramatically cut, with the number of motorists travelling at more than 40mph down from a massive 59 per cent to just ten per cent.

A spokesman from the Hampshire Safety Camera Partnership said: "We are extremely pleased that the camera on the A36 has been so effective at reducing both speeds and casualties.

"We are keen, however, that the users of the road do not become complacent and would appeal to the small minority that are still driving too fast to drive at an appropriate speed."

Pedestrian crossings, new pavements and village gateway features are also due to be installed between Plaitford and Wellow.