A TRIAL scheme to improve safety on the notorious bend in Packhorse Lane, Marcham, is to be scrapped, as it was not supported by residents.

Last July, traffic lights were installed on the A415, reducing vehicles to single file.

The trial was meant to last a month but the summer floods cut it to just two weeks.

Residents were surveyed before Christmas and Oxfordshire County Council claims the results proved the scheme was not popular.

Area traffic engineer Peter Ronald said: "Only 25 per cent of households consulted supported the scheme. Only 30 per cent of those households that have frontages on the A415 supported the scheme.

"We have decided not to implement the arrangement that we trialled. We are more than willing to discuss this further with the parish council."

Both Marcham Parish Council and a group called Packhorse Lane Action Group Safety (Plags) have long campaigned for improvements to the road.

Marjorie Evans, of Marcham Parish Council and a member of Plags, said she was disappointed with the findings.

She said: "It's a major section of the A415 with its bends and the lack of proper pavements, and with the traffic volume increasing it becomes even more hazardous.

"There's a real danger for the people of Packhorse Lane and it's disappointing that there were not more responses."

Dr Evans said the solution to the village's traffic problems would be a bypass, adding: "I have been a campaigner for the bypass for the past 25 years.

"A Marcham bypass is backed and supported by all the village and the county council."

Sally Timberlake, who lives in Packhorse Lane and is a member of Plags, was hit by a lorry as she walked around the bend in February 2006.

She is still recovering from injuries to her shoulder and back.

Ms Timberlake said: "Pedestrians on foot suffer, as there is no way around that corner, often taking your life in your hands hoping you are quick enough to get around.

"The traffic only moves at about 20 to 30mph, but that can still damage a life quite seriously."

But she believed a bypass was not the answer. She said: "To me, what's needed is some sort of control over that lane to safeguard human life.

"The need might even be greater with a bypass, as cars would be able to travel a lot faster with the probably lesser danger of meeting a wide vehicle."