A FATHER whose son was killed in a motorbike accident has spoken out against the growing number of roadside shrines to mark scenes of fatal accidents.

Councillor Richard Thomas's 30-year-old son, Charlie, was killed in October 1996 on the A169 Pickering to Whitby road, in North Yorkshire.

He said the tragedy, which came only six months after the death of his wife, Susan, following a long illness, had helped him to understand the feelings grieving relatives went through.

But he told North Yorkshire county councillors, who met in Harrogate to discuss guidelines on roadside shrines, that the memorials appalled him.

Members of the Harrogate area committee were giving their views on the issue, and a final decision will be taken by the county's executive councillors.

Coun Thomas said that only one other person, apart from the emergency services, knew the spot where his son was killed. He said he would not want it marked by a memorial.

Councillors discussed the issue amid increasing numbers of unofficial memorials on highway verges.

The council said it turned down requests for official memorials because they could be an obstruction and distraction to drivers.

One suggestion was that permanent memorials could be fixed to privately owned fences near accident scenes, with the individual landowners deciding whether to give permission