PEOPLE living on a dangerous stretch of road say council speed killing plans will not cut the number of serious crashes in the area.

Pudding Lane in Chigwell has been the scene of numerous accidents during the past few years, leaving one driver dead and dozens injured.

The last driver to be killed on the road, was 60 year-old Loughton man, Derrick Russell, in November 2007, who crashed his car into another vehicle.

Fearful residents have demanded the county council take action to improve safety standards in Pudding Lane for the past three years - but were left unimpressed when the authority finally announced plans to deal with the problem.

They say the proposals, which would see £75,000 spent on traffic calming measures and the speed limit lowered to 30mph, do not go far enough.

Pudding Lane resident Tom Yusef said: "It is good news but there needs to be other measures in place - what is the point of putting a speed limit in if there is nothing to enforce it?

"We also suggested that they look into putting speed bumps on the road, but that was discounted without an explanation to everyone here.

"I'd welcome anything that made this road safer, but this alone won't make a difference."

Neighbour Vernon Davies agreed, saying: "I'll believe it when I see it, the council seem to keep us in the dark when it comes to these things, they seem to do them without consulting with us.

"I'm very sceptical that this alone will stop people crashing on this road.

"It's a terrible road, especially in the winter, we've already seen one gentleman killed here and something effective must be done."

But a spokesman for Essex county council remained tight-lipped over how the cash would be spent.

He said: "The proposed reduction of the speed limit on Pudding Lane, Chigwell to 30mph has been passed to the Cabinet Member for Highways & Transportation to take the formal decision.

"If the reduction is approved then Essex County Council has the necessary funding available in order to implement the scheme.”