RESURFACING work on an accident-plagued Kidderminster road has been completed in rapid time, just two weeks after highways chiefs decided urgent action needed to be taken.

Almost 700 metres of the A442 Bridgnorth Road, north of the town, was upgraded following a spate of accidents last month.

Temporary warning signs had been installed as soon as Worcestershire County Council engineers confirmed that the condition of the road surface might have been a factor in accidents where drivers had lost control of their vehicles.

The signs will remain in place until the end of October, so officers can make sure the newly-laid asphalt is helping improve conditions for motorists before they remove the warnings.

John Fraser, network control manager for the county council, said: "Keeping our roads as safe as possible for the public is a top priority.

"As soon as we identified the problem, we put aside some less urgent projects to have the stretch of road resurfaced immediately.

"I'm delighted that our staff and contractors have done such a great job at such short notice, despite the unhelpful wet weather.

"They've pulled out all the stops and I'm sure that members of the public will appreciate the difference."

The resurfacing work, costing an estimated £35,000, was funded by the Wyre Forest Highways Partnership Unit and accident investigation department.

Stuart Reynolds, the partnership's manager, said the cost of the work would be taken out of next year's budget.

The stretch of road had been described by police as a "collision cluster site", as they admitted there were particular problems in the wet.

Lyn Phillips, the owner of Honeybrook Stud, which is based on the Bridgnorth Road, had been leading calls for remedial action to be taken on the road.

She had described it as a "war zone" in the wake of a series of vehicles crashing into land around her premises.

In one two-week spell alone, four cars crashed on land bordering the stud. That propelled the accident toll on the road at that point to 17 this year, she added.