THERE are fears it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on a stretch of road in Orpington, after two crashes within the space of two minutes last week.

Chairman of Little Chislewick Residents Association Andrew Wilson says statistics from Transport for London show the stretch of road from Sevenoaks Way into Cray Avenue is the most accident prone in Bromley borough.

Police say there have been 19 collisions where someone has been injured along the stretch in the last year alone.

And, according to Mr Wilson, who lives in Sevenoaks Way, one of the main issues leading to accidents is the reduction in speed - from 40mph in his road to 30mph in Cray Avenue.

The 47-year-old said: "Drivers do not realise there is a drop in speed. It is very dangerous. What we are trying to do is make people aware that this is a serious problem.

"It is only a matter of time before we have a child killed making its way across the road."

Members of the residents association, who also cite the number of junctions along the stretch of road, are working closely with council to resolve the problem.

Action taken so far has included putting up new speed limit signs.

The most recent accidents happened at 4.13pm and 4.15pm on February 14.

The first involved a blue Ford Fiesta, a silver VW Golf and a delivery van while the second was a collision between a Renault Clio and a motorbike.

All the patients in the first had minor injuries, though one of them was taken to the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH), Farnborough, for further treatment.

In the second accident, both people sustained minor neck injuries.

Councillor Colin Smith, Executive Councillor for Environment said: “We have yet to understand precisely why these collisions took place so it is somewhat premature to speculate what, if anything, might be done to address the causes.

"When the full facts underlying both incidents are known, the Council will of course carefully consider any potential solution which might prevent other accidents moving to the future. 

"We are very pleased to report that injuries on Bromley’s roads have fallen markedly over the course of the past decade and anything, within reason and resource, that we can do to extend that trend can only be a good thing.”