THE mother of a nurse who died after crashing off a Gwent road in 2019 has organised a protest march at the scene as part of a campaign to improve "inadequate" safety fences.

Jo Jones' daughter Laurie – a 23-year-old nurse from Pontllanfraith – had been driving home on the road between Ynysddu and Wyllie early on October 1, 2019, after a shift at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff when she crashed.

Her car had come off the road at a section of the road known as the Wyllie bends. A missing person appeal was issued after she didn't arrive back home from her shift, but at around 1pm the following day her body was found inside her car in the nearby Sirhowy River.

An inquest into her death the following March found she had drowned after her car crashed into the river in heavy rain.

Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) subsequently installed safety measures at the Wyllie bends, which consisted of concrete posts and chain-link fencing, while the speed limit on the road – which includes eight tight bends – was reduced from 60mph to 40mph in summer 2020.

However, Ms Jones says the fencing does not do enough to mitigate the risk of a repeat of the accident which claimed the life of her daughter.

"This has resulted in local outrage, forcing past victims and their families to unite and take a stand," she said.

Now Ms Jones has teamed up with two others mothers - one who lost her son in a crash in 2014, and a third whose son suffered life-changing injuries in 2009 - to raise awareness of the issue, with the group due to hold a protest march at the site this weekend.

All victims lived minutes away from their accidents and the three women have now united to support Ms Jones' campaign to prevent further families suffering the losses they have suffered.

The march will take place at 1pm on Saturday, October 22.

Starting from the Black Prince in Ynysddu, protestors will walk along the pavement of the Wyllie bends to the Halfway pub at Gelligroes.

The organisers of the protest want the authorities to "take them seriously and take proper safety actions on the notorious road known as the Wyllie bends".
"The impact on victims and families have been life changing," Ms Jones said.

"The families need positive safety measures to occur to help offer some peace of mind."