THE DEATH of an elderly biker after a collision in Prestbury on Sunday (April 19) has sparked fresh calls to reduce the road’s speed limit.

Granddad-of-three Peter Leach, 75, died after his Kawasaki was in collision with a car on Bonis Hall Lane.

"There will be another accident on this road. It’s just a matter of when," said Chris Sheppard, 65, who lives just yards from where the fatal happened.

The retired company director, a member of Prestbury Parish Plan transport working group said he wanted Cheshire East Council to reduce the limit to 30mph near houses on Bonis Hall Lane, and 40mph elsewhere.

At the moment, the B5358 has a national speed limit of 60mph.

Cheshire East Councillor for Prestbury Paul Findlow backed Mr Sheppard and added: "There have been serious concerns about this road long before this latest tragedy. It’s inherently dangerous, and I’m asking the highways engineer responsible to address it. There are government guidelines which make it difficult to change the speed limit and I would like to see those guidelines changed."

A spokeswoman for Cheshire East Council, which is responsible for reviewing speed limits on roads in the region, said: "Once a coroner has concluded their investigation into a road death such as this, we would then carry out our own review as a matter of course.  If there was a serious fault in the road, such as a large pothole, then we would attend to it immediately but, on this occasion, we will wait for the coroner’s report."

A police spokesman confirmed: "On Sunday, April 19, a fatal road traffic collision occurred on the B5358 (Bonis Hall Lane) in Prestbury, near the junction with Butley Lanes.  A Kawasaki 650cc motorcycle was in collision with a silver Nissan X Trail four by four.  A 75-year-old man from the Cheadle Hulme area, who was riding the Kawasaki, was taken to Macclesfield General Hospital where he later died."

Police later named the dead biker as Peter Leach from Cheadle Hulme, who recently retired as MD of his own steel fabricating business.

His wife Jeni said last night: "He was a very active, fun-loving man who had a young outlook on life in general.  Peter was a very keen motorcyclist with more than fifty years experience and enjoyed fishing as well as making and sailing model boats."