THE son of a man who died in an accident on a stretch of road which has claimed five other lives since 1999 has a stark message for the National Assembly.

John Kostanjevec, whose 73-year-old father Ivan died on the notorious A4042 in Monmouthshire in 2000, says: "How many more people must die before something is done about this road?"

On Monday, two Merthyr Tydfil men, Paul Anthony Veale, aged 22, of Troedyrhiw and John George Dawson 27, of Aberfan, died in the latest fatal car crash on the road near Llanellen.

Now, Monmouthshire councillor Andre Arkell to renew his campaign to get the National Assembly to dual the most northerly stretch of the road, bypassing the worst crash spots at Goytre and Llanellen Bridge.

And the Argus can reveal that on the worst affected stretch of the road between the Hardwick roundabout in Abergavenny and Mamhilad, there have been a total of 86 accidents reported since June 1998, say Gwent Police.

Mr Kostanjevec added: "The Assembly has been aware of the problems and now they must do something before more lives are lost."

Councillor Arkell said: "It is vital that some action is taken to remedy the situation by way of a by-pass from Llanellen to Penperlleni.

"It is the only trunk road in the area over seven miles that has not been upgraded from Little Mill to the Hardwick roundabout. It is a very narrow winding road and is particularly dangerous at Llanellen Bridge."

The councillor said that his campaign has been going on for a number of years, because of the concerning amount of traffic using the road and the number of heavy vehicles which use the road to get to the Midlands and Valleys.

He said: "It is a very narrow winding stretch of road, dual carriageway from Newport to Mamhilad and then a two-way road to Abergavenny.

"The road is particularly dangerous at Llanellen which has a hump back bridge."

The councillor has also been campaigning for a footbridge to be installed on the bridge. Mr Arkell said: "The situation has certainly outgrown itself, due to the nature of the road and the inherent danger that it possesses."

A spokesman for the National Assembly said: "The Assembly published its trunk road forward programme last month and improvements for the A4042 at Llanellen and Penperlleni have been allocated for the long-term category.

"We will not be prioritising the scheme, nothing will happen before 2008.

"However, the Assembly are taking steps to reduce speed at Llanellen with a series of traffic calming measures, including a 40mph speed restriction at Llanellen."

This could go through in a matter of months if unopposed, he added. Currently there is an unrestricted speed limit of 60mph.