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02
Oct
Villagers call for improved safety at 'death junction'
Residents of North Rigton, near Harrogate, are calling for action to cut the number of collisions at a junction they say is one of the most dangerous in North Yorkshire.
They say there are as many as two incidents a week where Hall Green Lane and Dunkeswick Lane meet the A658, and some fear it is only a matter of time before there is another fatality there.
The last serious incident at the junction happened on August 17, when two people were taken to hospital following a collision between a Mercedes and a Ford Transit van, triggering a police appeal for witnesses.
The location of the junction.
Freedom of Information request
The Stray Ferret submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to North Yorkshire Police, asking for the numbers of collisions at the junction in each of the last five years.
A spokesperson said that because of the way the information is recorded on police systems, figures solely for that junction were not available, but a search for all road traffic collisions tagged ‘Hall Green Lane’, ‘Dunkeswick Lane’ or ‘A658 North Rigton’ revealed that there was an average of two incidents a year between 2020 and 2024. Last year, 2024, was the worst, with four incidents, and this year there were three recorded up to September 10.
- 2020 – 3
- 2021 – 1
- 2022 – 2
- 2023 – 0
- 2024 – 4
- 2025 – 3 (up to September 10)
Unreliable data
Yet a look at the North Rigton Community Facebook page reveals the unreliability of the police data. One entry by a local resident from November 2023 reads:
Major car incident at the bottom of Hall Green Lane and the A658… a van on its roof and a car fully in the ditch…
We even wrote about the incident at the time. But according to police data disclosed following our FOI request, there was not a single road traffic collision recorded at the junction in 2023.
The Facebook post hints at an explanation. It continues:
No police on the scene yet. It looks like nobody hurt.
This collision was one of at least two in 2023 that do not feature in police records.
Mary Hopkins, chair of North Rigton Parish Council, told us:
The collisions recorded in the data are the ones the police attend. But in most cases, people just pick up the pieces and drive away. There are a lot more collisions than the police ever get to know about.
There have been at least three incidents where the bus shelter has been destroyed, and lampposts have been taken down. There’s at least one incident a fortnight, and sometimes as many as two in a week.
Safety suggestions
Ms Hopkins’ parish council colleague, Cllr Richard Farrar, lives just up the road from the crossroads and says it is known in his family as "death junction". He said it was made particularly dangerous by a combination of factors, all of which could be tackled by changing signage, road markings and the speed limit.
He said:
There are a lot of things that someone skilled in the art of preventing collisions could do.
If you’re not familiar with this junction and you’re coming out of the village [down Hall Green Lane] and looking to cross over the A658 to Dunkeswick Lane, your eyes are attracted by the railway level crossing, and so people just drive straight ahead [i.e. across the main road].
There is a ‘give way’ sign, but I think there should be a ‘stop’ sign – it'd be much more ‘in your face’.
I’ve also heard a number of people saying that they’ve been trying to turn left [from Hall Green Lane] but have nearly been faced with a head-on collision, because people coming along the A658 from Harrogate are overtaking, so they’re on the wrong side of the road. So, I think the speed on the A658 should be restricted to 40mph rather than 60mph, and there should be no overtaking.
These three things – a stop sign, the speed restriction, and no overtaking – would go long way towards mitigating the problem.
The junction viewed from Hall Green Lane, with the Give Way sign on the right. The level crossing on Dunkeswick Lane is just visible beyond the red car.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council what plans it has to improve safety at the junction.
Karl Battersby, corporate director of environment, told us:
We acknowledge that there are regular collisions at the junction of the A658 with Hall Green Lane and Dunkeswick Lane and have introduced measures in recent years to improve safety.
We have provided short lengths of red surfacing on the side road approaches to provide a contrast of colour with the main A658 to further highlight that vehicles must give way.
We carry out routine inspections in the area, including of the signs, and clear vegetation. We will continue to monitor the junction and we are considering further safety measures.
Any such safety measures cannot come too soon for the parish councillors, who insist that too little has been done to make the junction safer.
Mr Farrar said:
It’s pretty much on every parish council meeting agenda. It’s almost like a standing item, it’s such a big issue for the village.
Fear of fatality
They have been helped by Cllr Nathan Hull, who represents the Washburn and Birstwith division on North Yorkshire Council. He told us he had discussed the issue with council officers and Mr Battersby till he was "blue in the face”, and has also raised it with the local MP, Julian Smith. Yet so far, he said, no action has been taken.
Mr Farrar said:
It’s very frustrating, because North Yorkshire Council don’t seem to be interested at all. You almost feel like making a sign yourself, telling people to be extra careful.
Many years ago, a motorcyclist was killed there. If nothing is done, I very much fear that eventually someone else will be killed.
I’m not quite sure what North Yorkshire Council need before they’ll act. I don’t know if something specific needs to happen, or if they simply don’t have the money to make any changes.
Overtaking is still permitted along this stretch of the A658.
Ms Hopkins added:
Should a fatality occur, then the council's chief executive and highways chief would surely be culpable. We’ve told them about this and they’ve done nothing.
It’s a matter of complete frustration. It doesn’t matter what we say or do – no one listens to us and nothing happens.
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