THERE are calls today for urgent action on one of Hampshire's most notorious roads after a horror crash left two dead and three fighting for their lives.

An elderly man and an 84-year-old woman died and 15 other people were injured when a minibus taking cancer patients on a day trip collided with a truck on the A36 near West Wellow.

The two dead were passengers in the minibus, which had taken people from the Countess Mountbatten House hospice in West End, near Southampton, for afternoon tea at a garden centre.

Three of those hurt are today fighting for their lives in hospital.

Residents and politicians have been demanding the government make the road safer for years.

Today the Daily Echo joins their calls and those of Romsey MP Sandra Gidley who last night told the House of Commons: "This accident should not have happened.

"People have been talking about doing something about this road for 15 years. It is about time that more is done."

MORE ON THIS STORY ON PAGES TWO AND THREE OF TONIGHT'S DAILY ECHO