A1 anger mounts as crash victim named

Oct 6 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

TRANSPORT bosses were last night facing mounting anger over a decision to shelve plans to dual a notorious stretch of the A1 in Northumberland on which a man died.

Police have now named the dead man, who was driving a car which collided head on with a HGV in Friday’s crash on the Mousen Bends, near Belford, as fisherman Alan Joseph Gair, 37, of Amble.

His wife Kelly, 31, who was in the front passenger seat, was Wansbeck General Hospital last night with serious spinal injuries. The driver of the HGV, Klass Alewijn Jan Rehorst, 40, of the Netherlands, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving. He will appear at Alnwick Magistrates’ Court at 10am today.

Last night, there was growing criticism of the failure to dual the single carriageway stretch of the A1 at Mousen Bends.

Plans were announced to dual the section between Belford and Adderstone, beginning in 2009.

However, the interim regional transport board then opted to postpone the work until 2019, at the earliest.

Sir Alan Beith, Liberal Democrat for Berwick, said last night: “This terrible fatal accident occurred on one of the most dangerous sections of the entire A1 which is why money has been spent on plans to dual it. The Government’s decision to drop the dualling project for this section was shameful.”

And Geoff O’Connell, who represents Belford as an independent on Berwick Borough Council, added: “There was a plan prepared three or four years ago and all the village was consulted on proposals to dual that section of road and take away what is a known danger point and unfortunately the money it would have cost was diverted somewhere else and although the plans exist, the plan was never put into action.“

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Department of Transport confirmed the regional assembly had been asked for its priorities in terms of transport expenditure in January 2006, and had not put forward the Adderstone to Belford stretch. She said the body has been asked if it wants to review its priorities this year. A One NorthEast spokesman last night said: “We are working with partners on compiling the most comprehensive assessment undertaken of the priority transport schemes needed to take forward the North East economy.”

Mr Gair lived with his wife and three children, Sophie, 14, John, 12, and Jack, nine, on George Street.

He was the skipper of the fishing vessel Aquarius, which had been up for sale.

A lifelong friend, who asked not to be named, said: “He was a highly successful fisherman, everybody will tell you that.

“It does not bear thinking about. I do not think it has sunk in yet. Everybody is just in shock in the community.”

Mr Gair featured in The Journal in 2003 when he spoke up about the state of the fishing industry.

Police have renewed their appeal for witnesses to the crash to contact 03456 043043 ext 61374.