SAFETY campaigners are close to winning their fight for a 30mph speed limit on a village road.

Despite suffering 16 car accidents on the road in the last ten years, the 70 residents of Middlestone Village, near Spennymoor, had been told their community was too small to qualify for a restricted speed zone.

They had already demanded a meeting with police and Durham County Council traffic experts before the latest crash two weeks ago, which almost claimed the life of a 17-year-old youth.

When the meeting took place at the Ship Inn yesterday, residents showed a videotape recording the horror of the crash scene.

The video showed the mangled wreckage of a white Ford Mondeo from which the teenager passenger had been catapulted 70ft over the top of a parked car and into another.

Campaigner Norman Strongman had filmed danger points in the village where, he said, reckless motorists regularly lost control of their vehicles.

He said: "We want traffic calming measures. We want to stop fools driving through this village at 110mph."

A dip on the eastern approach was a challenge to speeding drivers, he said, even though the top of the slope was too narrow for a bus and a car to pass.

Other villagers complained that there was no pavement along the road, which is popular with walkers and cyclists.

Inspector Gordon Balderstone, in charge of traffic management for Durham police, told residents he would support their appeal for a 30mph limit, even though it would be difficult to enforce.

Durham County Council's area engineer, Steve Foster, said the restriction could be in place in a few months.

County councillor Phil Graham asked for a report on ways of reducing traffic speed.

Teacher Jill Hilditch, who has threatened to leave Middlestone because of the traffic dangers, said: "I am pleased with what has been achieved. There is a lot more that can be done."