A ROAD accident will happen soon if a new exit from a luxury hotel is allowed to go ahead without lowering the speed limit along a busy road.

That was the warning from a county councillor as plans for a new junction at the entrance to Eynsham Hall, a hotel 10 miles west of Oxford, were considered by a highways chief.

Liam Walker, the county councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell, made the warning about plans to add a new exit onto the A4095 from the three-star hotel to the south.

The current two-way exit and entrance would be used only as an entrance, with a new exit splitting away to the west of this onto the busy road.

ALSO READ: Blenheim's ancient fallen oak tree transformed into bench

Mr Walker said: "It is very difficult to see the new entrance," adding: "Very sadly, it won’t be long before there is an accident."

The councillor called on new cabinet member for highways management, Tim Bearder, to defer a decision on allowing the hotel to build the new exit.

Mr Walker said a 40mph speed limit should be imposed along the entire length of the A4095 as it runs between Freeland to the east, and Common Road, North Leigh to the west, so driving in and out of the hotel and nearby junctions is safer.

The current speed limit along the road changes from 40 to 50 and back again several times, and the local councillor said drivers were 'rightly confused' by 'this nonsense'.

Mr Walker also said he had concerns about how visible the new exit was.

He asked if the council's highways staff could speak to Eynsham Hall's owners to ask for more funding which would make the road safer, as part of a planning contract known as a section 106 agreement.

Roads officer Daniel Mowlem said there 'weren’t any safety concerns' about visibility from the new exit from the hotel.

He added: "Potentially asking Eynsham Hall to extend it another 400m down the road may be outside the scope of their works."

But Mr Walker said: "Me going back to my local residents and saying 'sorry, we were worried that Eynsham Hall might not want to pay for this' just doesn’t cut it.

"This is an opportunity to get improvements to the road: let’s take it; rather than the taxpayer, through the county council... fund a VAS sign or change in the speed limit."

ALSO READ: Locations of Oxford's new LTNs revealed

Mr Bearder, the cabinet member for highways management, decided he would defer approval of the exit.

Council staff will now meet with the hotel's management and with local parish councillors who are concerned about the speed limit on the road.

Eynsham Hall is a three-star luxury hotel and is currently undergoing renovation work, approved by West Oxfordshire District Council in September last year.

London-based hotelier Ennismore Limited owns the hotel and plans to demolish modern extensions to the hotel and replace them with new accommodation.

Thames Valley Police had also objected to the new exit on road safety grounds.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.