MEASURES are to be considered to prevent more accidents on the A78 coastal road between Largs and Skelmorlie after a recent horror crash that saw a car plunge into the sea.

We told recently how a Ford Fiesta came off the route late on a Friday night, sparking a major emergency response involving police and fire crews that saw the road closed for almost six hours.

Over the years, there have been several serious crashes on the stretch that have resulted in vehicles leaving the road - prompting a meeting this week to try and find a solution.

Councillors held a summit with trunk roads bosses Amey and Transport Scotland this week to look at methods to control traffic speed and improve safety.

Suggestions have been tabled - with a raft of other improvements also being looked at locally.

Councillors Tom Marshall, Todd Ferguson and Ian Murdoch were involved in the discussions.

Cllr Marshall said: "The issue of speeding, including the recent accident on the road, were raised.

"The road safety team at Amey are looking at it again and will see if they can come up with some proposals to control vehicles' speed

"Amey said that they would look specifically at speeding issues at Skelmorlie and between Largs and Fairlie.

"They are also looking a plan to resurface the pavements at the south side of the Main Street where the Bank of Scotland is as this stretch is badly needing done, "Another thing that is being considered are traffic signals for the ferry to prevent cars backing up and phasing the lights to make the traffic flow better.

"All the measures discussed sound positive."

Cllr Murdoch says he is also encouraged by the proposals.

He told the News: "We also discussed new crossings proposed for both Fairlie and Skelmorlie which I have been supportive of to try and help pedestrian safety.

"The other topic we talked about was the Wemyss Bay road closure which was put off in February due to adverse weather. The good news is that this has been pushed back until October so as not to clash with the tourist season."

Councillor Murdoch added that he felt more needed to be done to address driver behaviour on the speeding matters which have been raised in Fairlie and Skelmorlie, and added that he would support any traffic calming that would be implemented.

He said he was particularly glad that the pavement resurfacing was taking place outside Robert Duff and Co and the Bank of Scotland building as people were unhappy with the original works.

He added: "I have kept pushing on this and was told that it would be included in the coming year's road budget by Amey - and I am glad that this will be happening."

Both councillors have campaigned for improved pavement resurfacing, with the stretch at Gallowgate Street completed at the turn of the year.