Residents Demand Long-Term Fix for Crumbling Fenland Road Branded a “Death Trap”

People living near a well-known stretch of rural Fenland roadway say they are desperate to see lasting improvements after fresh subsidence left the route dangerously distorted once again.

Forty Foot Bank – the winding road linking Ramsey Forty Foot to Doddington and Chatteris – has a long history of serious collisions, including multiple fatalities. Built beside a drainage channel and over unstable peat soils, the road frequently warps and sinks, creating hazardous driving conditions.

Recent weeks have seen the surface deteriorate further, with deep cracks and pronounced undulations appearing along the carriageway. Some sections have now been cordoned off with temporary traffic lights, but residents say equally severe defects remain on the open stretches.

“It Gets Worse Every Week”

Benwick resident Alan Whitney, 78, said the situation has become intolerable.

“The road’s collapsing on both sides. It’s cracking, it’s uneven, and every week it gets worse,” he said. “Drivers are weaving all over the place trying to avoid the worst parts. One day a lorry is going to tip straight into the drain.”

Whitney added that the number of deaths on the route over the years has left locals fearful and frustrated. “People have died here far too often. We need a proper solution.”

Dodging Craters and Cracks

Ramsey Forty Foot resident Teresa Coplestone, 63, said the uneven surface has transformed the daily commute into an obstacle course.

“There have been so many near-misses,” she said. “Wing mirrors get smashed as vehicles swerve around cracks and dips. At times it feels like you’re on a rollercoaster, moving left and right just to stay on a safe line.”

Coplestone said the constant patch repairs over the years have left the road looking “like a patchwork quilt”, with heavy farm machinery and large lorries adding to the strain on the surface.

Locals Call It the ‘Death Road’

At the village pub, landlord Brian Wadey, 40, said the state of Forty Foot Bank is a constant topic of conversation among customers.

“Everyone around here calls it the ‘death road’,” he said. “I’ve lost customers in that drain. It’s tragic. Many people would rather take longer detours just to avoid the risk.”

Media reports suggest more than a dozen people have been killed on the road over the past two decades, with CrashMap data indicating many additional accidents. On one recent morning, residents reported four separate crashes in just a few hours.

Council Plans Major Repairs – but Says Long-Term Fix Needs National Funding

Cambridgeshire County Council, run by the Liberal Democrats, confirmed that subsidence has forced the closure of one lane and the installation of temporary signals in two locations.

A spokesperson said major reconstruction and resurfacing work is scheduled to begin in January.

Forty Foot Bank is one of many local roads built over shifting peatland, the council explained, meaning surfaces can deform dramatically during seasonal changes.

“We’re doing all we can to keep peat-based roads safe,” the spokesperson said. “But solving the problem properly requires national support. Repairing a road built on peat can cost four times more than fixing a standard one.”

The council said it has secured £1.5m in external funding to trial new engineering techniques next summer, and has ring-fenced £5m since 2023 for reconstructing soil-affected routes.

Government Response

A Department for Transport spokesperson said local authorities are responsible for managing their own road networks, adding that the government provided £500m in additional funding last year – enough, it noted, to repair the equivalent of seven million potholes nationwide.