CALLS have been made for Newport City Council to widen a road connecting Malpas with Caerleon.

It comes after reports of several accidents along Pillmawr Road in the past few months, with a white Mercedes forced off the road on Friday.

Newport City Council has said that it has no plans to widen or upgrade the road as it would be a multimillion pound engineering project that would have major impacts on residents.

Ryan Milton, who is one of the owners of Roman Taxis, said the same thing happened to him in August last year.

“It happened in the exact same spot in the same direction,” said the 27-year-old.

“A white Mercedes was coming down the road and I had to make a choice; either to have a head-on crash or go on the side of the road.”

Mr Milton called the drop from the side “quite severe”.

“They had to bring a lorry to put the car back into the road, which caused even more chaos on the lane,” added the resident of The Coldra.

“There was a four hour cut off.

“Then there were the costs of repairs, which were around £400.”

Mr Milton said more signage would improve the situation.

“Another option would be to put cameras and fine companies if they use a road they shouldn’t use,” said Mr Milton.

“Anything heavier than 3.5 tonnes shouldn’t be allowed.

“At least once a week there will be a major issued with that lane. It is absolute chaos.

“I have one driver that refuses to go down there though.

“I will only go that route on specific times of the day. I will not use it between 8.30am and 10am, or between 2.30pm and 7pm.”

Conservative council candidate for Caerleon Michael Enea said Friday’s incident was the second in as many months.

“It’s only a matter of time before we get a serious injury or, god forbid, a fatality,” he added.

“This is the second accident within two months.

“There’s a 30 metre drop below the hedge on the bottom side of the lane.”

His fellow Conservative candidate for Caerleon Richard Andrews also said the lane needs widening, especially on the middle section.

“This small lane is now a heavily used road in the rush hours and it will only get busier if they build 400 news houses at the old university campus site,” he said.

The council needs to look at the road surface and potholes along the route, he added.

A Newport City Council spokeswoman said: "Newport City Council has no plans to widen or upgrade the rural section of Pillmawr Road between Malpas and Caerleon.

"This would be a multimillion pound engineering project that would have major impacts on residents, land owners and the environment.

"The challenges such a project would present, would also involve the compulsory purchase of land, demolishing properties and building major retaining structures along much of the route.

"The existing lane is subject to regular maintenance inspections and any defects that do not meet the council’s safety criteria are, and will continue, to be repaired."