A call has been made for an A78 task force to be set up to address serious safety concerns about the trunk road.

The call has come from the chairman of Largs Community Council who says communities served by the route between West Kilbride and Inverkip should join together to press for a major upgrade of the road.

Douglas Blair was speaking after representatives of Transport Scotland and TranServ attended a community council meeting to hear concerns over the frequency of crashes on the trunk route.

However, they gave no guarantees that in the foreseeable future any realignment of the route would take place to remove bends, particularly at Ashcraig, Auchengarth and at Manor Park on the Skelmorlie stretch.

As a result, Mr Blair told the “News” that serious consideration should now be given to setting up a task force to press for improvements to a “1930s road that fails to meet modern day needs”.

Community councillors and members of the public told the transport representatives they believed accidents would continue until action was a taken.

Graeme Reid, Transport Scotland Network Manager, Evan Ferguson, planned maintenance manager for Scotland TranServ, and George Henry, network manager, told the meeting they regularly checked accident statistics and other traffic issues, such as speed compliance, with the police. They would look specifically at data related to the areas of the road causing most concern and report back to the community council.

However, councillor Ian Murdoch, who has campaigned vigorously for improvements on the route, said that rather than checking statistics with the police, the transport representatives should listen to the local people.

He said: “Why can’t you accept the evidence of the people who drive that road day and daily? There is a wealth of local knowledge and driving ability — we’re telling you what’s wrong with the road.” However, the roads group pledged to work closely with the community council to consider issues such as better drainage, anti-skid surfaces at bad bends and warning signs at appropriate spots.

Mr Murdoch had compiled a list of eight questions for the transport representatives, but because of time restraints at the meeting these were not dealt with and answers will be supplied at a later date.

One question asked if there was an overall emergency strategy plan for the A78, in particular from Largs to Skelmorlie, for occasions such as severe weather, road accidents or burst water mains. If any of these situations occurred would the official groups be willing to liaise and work with local people, such as a Largs emergency task force?

North Ayrshire councillor Tom Marshall, who attended the meeting, told the “News”: “It is indisputable that there have been no substantial improvements to the section of the A78 between Largs and Skelmorlie in the last 50 years — whereas the sections North of Irvine and South of Greenock have been dualled.

“There certainly is a case to be made for realignment of this road to improve its drive ability and safety — however, as was stated, any such project would need to be assessed against other priorities.

“Meantime, I welcome the plan by Transerv Scotland to examine the police accident statistics and to consider installing anti slip on corners and to improve drainage. Having driven this road over the last half century my view is that driver behaviour is a greater cause of accidents rather than the design of the road.”