Despite a local man calling for action following a series of near miss accidents on the busy A4 Belfast Road, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) says the concerned junction is not "recommended for consideration of additional measures at this time".

Calls for action comes following a series of accidents on a junction of the A4 Belfast Road at Lisbellaw. Nigel Scollan whose family owns the land near the junction raised the issue following a series of near misses at the junction where he fears lives could be lost.

Speaking to the Impartial Reporter, he recalled some of the incidents that have occurred near or on the junction He said: “We own the land on the left, immediately at the junction, usually once or twice a year we get a car ending up in the field.”

Nigel recalled one accident and said: “There was one in October last year who must have been travelling at speed from Enniskillen and somehow managed to go airborne. There is a big 30ft drop from the road, this car managed to go airborne and missed the fence completely.”

Recalling a frightening recent accident, Nigel continued: “What could have been really dangerous was there was a car that came out of Lisbellaw and didn’t realise it was approaching the A4 road and went straight across the A4 and down the bank at the other side.

"At the bottom of the bank, the car hit the drain and flipped over onto a wooden fence and ended up on its roof, that car had a number of teenagers in it."

Nigel added: “Thankfully they were all okay but it could have been a lot worse.”

Nigel believes that something needs to be done at this dangerous junction.

He said: “I’m just concerned that action needs to be taken, I’m not worried about the fence, I’m not worried about the field, I’m more worried that lives are going to be lost at it.”

Explaining some of the issues, Nigel said: “There is no lighting around it, the road markings are very poor and that is the situation if you are coming from Maguiresbridge and need to turn in or if you’re coming from Enniskillen and need to turn in."

Nigel added: “Some people do come out of Lisbellaw who don’t know the area and don’t know it’s a trunk road and drive on, I know that sounds bizarre but it's true.”

A DfI spokesperson said:“This junction was assessed in February 2022 and on the basis of that assessment it was not recommended for consideration for additional measures at that time.

“The Department’s policy for rural street lighting provision is based on development density or its possibility of reducing after dark collisions when there is no alternative solution such as signage and/or road markings. Road signage at this location is all in good condition and the junction markings were recently replaced as part of routine white line maintenance works.”

Commenting on the reoccurring road safety issues, Councillor Keith Elliott said: “This has been an ongoing issue for a number of months now and is becoming increasingly concerning that someone will be severely injured or potentially worse. Myself and my party colleague Deborah Erskine have been liaising with DfI for a number of months now on this particular issue.

"Speaking with the local DfI team, it is clear that some form of safety measures are urgently required at this junction and I would call on those within the Department of Infrastructure to ensure that finances can be secured for these necessary road safety improvements to be implemented as soon as possible.”