CAMPAIGNERS who have fought for ten years for safety measures on a busy road have welcomed the start of a £300,000 scheme.

Work is due to start on Monday on road and pavement resurfacing on the A416 Staton Road at Amersham. Re-kerbing work will also be carried out and a pedestrian crossing installed.

Grandfather Lawrie Tubb, who has lived on Station Road for 16 years, said the improvements are long overdue.

He said: 'People will be over the moon.

'I have seen lesser roads being done up almost cosmetically in the past but not ours, even though it's as busy as the M25.'

He said the slope of the pavements created a hazard and added: 'If you are pushing a pushchair with two infants in, you are at an angle of over 45 degrees and you are only six inches from juggernauts going at 40mph.'

Mr Tubb added: 'Older people walking single-file, or parents with children, are only nine inches from the road.'

County council figures show that from April 1, 1997, to March 31, 2000, there were 11 slight-injury accidents on the road and no fatal accidents.

County council officials have warned that the maintenance work, which is expected to take three months, will mean unavoidable traffic delays.

It is advising motorists to try to take alternative routes.

More road improvements are planned for the A416 through Amersham and Chesham as part of a four-year rolling programme of repairs.

The work is being carried out by Buckinghamshire County Council.

Its chairman of highways and public transport, David Rowlands, said: 'This will benefit motorists and pedestrians alike.'