Fresh call for bypass after three injured in crash at notorious Doncaster accident blackspot

Two vans collided at Hickleton crossroads on the A635 on Friday morning, sparking a major emergency operation with police, ambulance and fire crews all racing to the scene.

It is the latest incident on the stretch of road which has been blighted by a number of tragedies in recent years.

In August last year, a man in his 50s died after he was in collision with a lorry in the village.

In September 2019, Jay-Tyler Bromilow, 17, and Colin Leeson, 66, died when the car they were in was involved in a crash with a lorry in Hickleton.

And in April 2017, an 18-year-old Ethen Saunders was killed following a collision on the same stretch of road, while in 2011, 72-year-old Marjorie Webster died after her car was in collision with a lorry in the village.

Now local councillor Glenn Bluff, who is the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Doncaster North, has made a fresh plea for a bypass for the village – a campaign that has been going for more than 100 years.

The Sprotbrough ward councillor said: “Without a doubt, these are preventable. We need the bypass now.”

Earlier this month, it was announced a bypass could be funded by Network North as weight restriction plans for the road were scrapped in favour of pursuing the bypass option.

Coun Bluff had proposed the original motion for a Traffic Regulation Order to prevent HGVs from using the road but was told at a council meeting that South Yorkshire Police and National Highways had been unwilling to support the motion.

Following initial consultations with the Department for Transport, the council will instead bid for funding to build a nearby bypass to ease traffic, aiming to secure funding from the Network North scheme announced in October in place of the scrapped northern leg of HS2.

The A635 through Hickleton and Marr is regularly used by HGVs as a route between the A1(M) at Doncaster and the industrial estates in the Barnsley area.

There were calls for a bypass to be built around the village as far back as the 1920s, when Hickleton Hall and the surrounding estate were owned by the Earls of Halifax, who were petitioned by their tenants to support the proposal.

Last Friday’s incident saw the road closed off for several hours following the crash between two vans at a spot near to the entrance to Hickleton village known as Hickleton Crossroads.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We were called following reports of a road traffic collision on the A635, near Hickleton.

“It is reported that two vans were involved in a collision.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighters from Adwick, Dearne and Doncaster stations attended the incident.

“Firefighters extricated three casualties who were left in the care of the ambulance service.

“The crews left the scene at 10:57am.”

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision can contact police with details on 101.