A junction linking a village to a busy main road is in desperate need of improvement, according to some of its residents.

Concerns have been raised about the safety of the A146/Norwich Road junction, which leads in and out of Chedgrave, near Loddon.

The calls for improvements come after a handful of crashes on the stretch, including one which saw the death of a 25-year-old motorcyclist.

Jacqueline Bircham, chairman of Chedgrave Parish Council, said the junction has been a problem for many years, stretching back to an incident around 20 years ago in which a family friend was killed.

She said: 'It is an extremely dangerous junction made worse by the amount of traffic coming into it and trying to get out.

'People coming out have to wait for some time as it is constantly busy.'

The parish council is hoping it will be able to secure a roundabout for the junction, or failing this, a lowered speed limit.

'The speed has always been a big problem there,' she added. 'I think a roundabout would go a long way to sorting this problem out, but if that isn't possible certainly reducing the 60mph speed limit would also have a big impact.'

Barry Stone, Norfolk county councillor for the Loddon division, however, said the council would need to examine the junction's safety record before taking any action.

He said: 'There is already a roundabout scheduled to be built at the George's Lane junction, so we are in danger of having too many in a short stretch of road.

'It may be possible to reduce the speed limit, but we would need to look at the safety record of the road.'

A change in speed limit would be welcomed by the father of a man who died as a result of an accident at the junction.

He said: 'Personally, I don't think it's a dangerous junction as such, but I think there needs to be a whole road approach to the A146.

'A lowered speed limit and the addition of average speed cameras would have a big impact. As a truck driver I often drive the A140 between Norwich and Ipswich, which has 40mph and 50mph speed limits and as a road it just feels safer.

'I think with these things it's always better to be looking at the bigger picture and I do not think it's a particularly bad junction itself, but a whole road approach would be very welcome.'