A NOTORIOUS accident blackspot has claimed another life just weeks after a coroner urged council bosses to take action over it.

Barnoldswick woman Jean Barnes was killed in last Friday's accident, which also left Sough pensioner Harry Manning recovering in hospital from serious injuries. It was the latest in a series of accidents on the 60mph stretch of the A56 between Kelbrook and Foulridge.

Just a fortnight earlier, East Lancs Coroner David Smith had said he would write to the highways authority about the stretch of road, after recording a verdict of accidental death on Earby motorcyclist Brian Alliston, killed in a crash there in February.

The road also claimed the life of Earby policeman David Hesketh in another horrific crash in November 1996.

Last Friday's accident happened just after 3pm near the entrance to Great Hague Farm. According to a police spokesman, a Vauxhall Nova driven by Jean Barnes, 54, of Hollins Road, Barnoldswick, was travelling on the road towards Colne.

For no apparent reason it appeared to have crossed into the opposite carriageway, glancing off the rear of a Ford Transit flatback before colliding head-on with a Volvo 460 driven by 81-year-old Harry Manning, of Colne Road, Sough.

Mrs Barnes suffered serious multiple injuries while Mr Manning sustained broken legs, a fractured pelvis and other injuries.

Both drivers were trapped in their vehicles for 90 minutes while fire crews fought to cut them free and paramedics treated them at the scene.

Two helicopters attended the accident, the recently launched AA-sponsored air ambulance and Lancashire Police's own air support unit. Mrs Barnes was rushed to the Royal Preston Hospital in the air ambulance, but died about 90 minutes later.

Mr Manning was flown to Airedale General Hospital, at Steeton, in the police helicopter and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Later in the week he was transferred to an ordinary ward and his condition was described as satisfactory.

The driver of the Transit flatback, 40-year-old Julie Swales, of Swaledale Farm, Wheatley Lane Road, Barrowford, was uninjured in the accident.

Following the smash, the road was closed to traffic for four hours while police accident investigators carried out extensive work, including a reconstruction.

The closure of the busy road resulted in traffic chaos, with problems stretching back to the M65 motorway at Colne. The narrow and winding top road from Barnoldswick to Higherford was virtually jammed, and another minor accident happened there.

The coroner has been informed of Mrs Barnes' death but it is expected to be several weeks before a full inquest is held, to allow the police time to complete their investigations. They are appealing for any witnesses to Friday's accident to contact them on 01282 425001.

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