CALLS are being made to slash the speed limit on a busy Cookley road after two young women were killed in separate crashes just months apart.

Labour Wyre Forest district councillor Christopher Nicholls wants the speed limit on the A449 cut from 60mph to 40mph and speed cameras installed in a desperate bid to stop more lives being lost.

He is calling for action after Samantha Jennings, a 26- year-old mother of two from Kingswinford, was killed in a crash on Saturday, just three months after Natasha Kew, 21, of Stourbridge, also died in an accident on the same “dangerous” stretch of road.

Worcestershire County Council, however, said it would not be reducing the speed limit despite the recent deaths.

Mr Nicholls said: “I’m calling on Worcestershire County Council to take action and reduce the speed on the A449 from the traffic lights to the Caunsall turning.

“I want a 40mph speed limit and speed cameras installed in an attempt to curb speed on this dangerous stretch of road. These tragedies are terrible. Something has got to happen.”

Ms Jennings was a front seat passenger in a black Vauxhall Astra, which left the road and hit a tree near the Island Pool pub, just before 1.30am on Saturday.

The driver of the car, a 22- year-old man, was taken to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital with serious injuries, including two broken legs and a broken pelvis.

A 24-year-old man, who was in the back seat, was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester with minor injuries.

The road was closed for about seven hours to allow investigations to take place and the wreckage to be removed.

Mr Nicholls added: “Perhaps if there had been a reduced speed limit their lives could have been saved.

“I think it’s vital to cut the speed limit because we do not want any more tragic loss of lives.”

A county council spokesman added: “We are not presently considering a reduction in the speed limit on the A449 at Cookley.