AN AMMAN Valley councillor has attacked a decision by county council chiefs not to introduce speed humps on a road where a pensioner was mown down and killed in November 2012.

Tragic John Gwyn Edwards was said to have been thrown 12 feet into the air when he was struck by a car being driven at 72 mph in a 30 mph built-up area.

Swansea Crown Court heard that drivers David Henry, of Upper Brynaman, and David Jones, of Crescent Road, Gwaun cae Gurwen, had been racing each other along Brynaman Road when the former’s Vauxhall Corsa collided with Mr Edwards near Cwmgors Rugby Club.

Gwaun cae Gurwen community councillors have now been disappointed to learn that speed humps will not be installed on the road as part of a series of traffic-calming measures announced by Neath Port Talbot Council.

“They say parked cars slow the speed of passing vehicles,” Cllr Morlais Pugh told the Guardian.

“What they don’t realise is that 90 per cent of vehicles along that stretch are parked on the pavements at night – this is what happens when decisions are made by council officers who don’t live round here.

“We’ve been on about this for years – it’s a straight stretch of road where drivers just go like mad. We feel speed humps could reduce the problem like they have in Gorslas.

“We’ve also been told there haven’t been enough fatalities at this spot – do they want us to throw someone under a bus before they take the appropriate action?”

A Neath Port Talbot Council spokesman confirmed the authority had obtained a £70,000 road safety grant from the Welsh Government for the "route treatment" of the A4069 between Gwaun cae Gurwen and Brynaman.

He added that the work involved the provision of a traffic priority throttle on Brynaman Road.