PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has said that safety improvements to a notorious accident blackspot on the A38 must be given priority.

MP for South East Cornwall Sheryll Murray raised the issue of the long-standing plans to improve the junctions at Menheniot during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Mr Johnson said that he “hoped that Highways England, which is currently undertaking a safety study of the A38 between Bodmin and Saltash, would be able to accelerate its work and get on with the Menheniot junction as fast as possible”.

A scheme to upgrade the access to the trunk road at Menheniot was first mooted in 2006 but has failed to make it into successive funding allocations.

The improvement plans to the dangerous junction on the A38 is something that MP Sheryll Murray says she has long campaigned for.

"Two months ago, the regional director of the south-west part of Highways England told me that this was not going to happen, blaming the change from the old Highways Agency," said Mrs Murray.

"I asked, ’Can my Right Hon. Friend tell me when, if ever, the people of Menheniot will finally see shovels in the ground?’"

The Prime Minister replied: “I am grateful to my Hon. Friend, because she gave me advance notice of this question. This is really a case for a project speed, and I hope that Highways England, which is currently undertaking a safety study of the A38 between Bodmin and Saltash, will be able to accelerate its work and get on with the Menheniot junction as fast as possible.”

Following Mr Johnson’s positive response in Parliament, Transport Minister Grant Schapps said that it might be possible to support the project through the current safety and congestion fund, but gave no concrete assurance on the timeframe.

Work on the safety study of the A38 is due to be completed this year.

If a "more significant intervention" is needed at Menheniot, said Mr Schapps, it could be that the works are pushed back to the next Road Improvement Strategy in 2025-2030.

Pressure group Safe38 says that Highways England has described the Menheniot and Lean Quarry Junctions as priorities - and the group is campaigning to keep the issue in the sights of the Department for Transport.

Read the first of a new series of regular columns from Safe38 chairman James Millidge in this week’s Cornish Times.