For years, Thornhaugh Parish Council has led calls to revamp the notorious Russell Hill junction with the northbound dual-carriageway.

Following a fatal accident on January 28, close to the junction, North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara intervened on behalf of villagers and wrote to Transport minister Tom Harris imploring his department to take action.

Villagers said the death of motorcyclist Andrew Lewthwaite (38), of Drift Avenue, Stamford, who died in a collision with a van, was a disaster waiting to happen.

Do you live in Thornhaugh or use this junction? What do you think?
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In response to Mr Vara, Mr Harris said the Russell Hill junction failed to score highly on a "value management scoring system", meaning road safety improvements could not be justified.

He said: "The agency tends to concentrate its safety spending on those sites which have the worst accident records, rather than those which have a perceived accident problem.

"Unfortunately, the situation at Thornhaugh does not satisfy these criteria and the Highways Agency can't justify allocating funds when there are other sites where there is an identified accident problem."

Mr Warren said: "Residents are disappointed and frustrated. The junction is a very sharp turn and motorists have to slow down to turn. When traffic is thundering along the A1 and lorries are tailgating it is a dangerous manoeuvre.

"We have to accept that the Department for Transport is limited in terms of its funds and we are a low priority."

As an alternative, the parish council now wants three-stage white barred signs on the approach to the junction or warning "slow" signs painted on the road.

It is also proposing the realignment of the junction, creating a slip road that would follow the boundary of an adjacent field, to reduce the need of A1 users to suddenly brake.