THE widow of a man who died as he returned to his car parked beside a busy road has said action must be taken to address the ‘serious’ safety issues on the road.

Mr Gerald Russell, of The Narth near Monmouth, was killed on October 27 last year when he was struck by a car while crossing the A466 in Chepstow to return to his car which was parked in a lay-by.

He was the third person to be killed on that stretch of road in three years.

The 72-year-old’s widow has campaigned since to improve safety measures on the three-lane, 60-mph road which leads to the M48.

Last week she had a meeting with Welsh roads minister Edwina Hart followed by one with Chepstow town councillors, officers and members from Monmouthshire County Council, Gwent Police and Monmouth MP David Davies.

Mrs Russell told the meeting with councillors in the Chepstow Town Council that she felt she “had to do something to address the serious issues on the A466.”

Mr Russell was described as “an active, slim 72-year-old, not a doddery old man.”

She said on the day of the accident she had been swimming in Chepstow and her husband came to meet her to go to Bristol.

He parked in a lay-by and continued the journey in his wife’s car.

When they returned to Chepstow at around 5pm, Mrs Russell offered to drive her husband around the High Beech roundabout to where he was parked but he declined.

She said: “He got out of the car and I said to him to take care and the next thing I heard was a loud thud and then I saw something flying through the air.

“I put no blame on the people who hit him, it was a tragic accident.”

Mrs Russell has called for the lay-by to be closed to prevent similar accidents in future.

She said that this week would have been their 48th wedding anniversary and had planned, as in previous years, to spend it in Spain.

She added: “If that lay-by had not been there I would now be in Spain with my husband.”

Among other suggestions to make the road safer are a park and ride on the Newhouse Industrial Estate to prevent commuter cars being left at the side of the A466.

County councillor Phil Hobson (Lib Dem, Larkfield) said the lay-bys did not meet modern safety standards and should be closed by the Welsh government which is responsible for the road.

He said: “For the sake of human life close the lay-bys.”

Among the other safety improvements suggested are a crash barrier between the northbound and southbound lanes and a reduction in the speed limit to 50mph.

Inspector Lysha Thompson gave details of the accidents that had occurred on the road over the last five years.

She said while there was no common link between the incidents, the police shared the concerns about safety.

Roads minister Edwina Hart has said a review of safety on the road would be undertaken but Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said it was ‘critical’ that a timeframe was sorted out.

Ana Cheshire, who is one of Mr Russell’s two daughters, said the family had a positive meeting with the minister earlier in the day and they were confident action would be taken.

She said as someone who works in health and safety for an international corporation, the risks posed by the road would make it a high priority.

She said: “The likelihood of something occuring is probably. The severity level very probably serious.

“For us that would be in the highest bracket and we would be given a week to a month to fix it.”