Speed cameras are to be installed at the Birmingham road tunnel where six people were killed in one of the city's worst-ever road crashes.

The city council has unveiled plans to fit average speed cameras along a 1.7-mile stretch of the A4540 ring road, including the Belgrave Middleway and Lee Bank Middleway underpass.

A speeding driver lost control of his Audi S3 on December 17 last year and struck an oncoming taxi in the tunnel, resulting in the deaths of six people. Seven more cars were also involved.

A petition calling for extra safety measures, backed by relatives of the victims, was signed by more than 28,000 people.

The Belgrave Middleway crash killed six people.
The Belgrave Middleway crash killed six people.

The cameras will monitor the 40mph-limit road from Five Ways roundabout at Edgbaston to Haden Circus at Highgate.

Council transport bosses are also looking at other safety measures and campaigners have called for a central barrier to be installed in the underpass.

The received the petition earlier this year but was awaiting the outcome of police and coroner inquiries, which concluded last month, before announcing the plan.

Council leader Coun Ian Ward said: “This was a terrible accident which shocked the city and, given the long and complex nature of the resulting police investigation, it was important we understood what had contributed to this truly heartbreaking loss of six lives before considering what safety measures could be put in place.

MP Preet Gill with Tony Worth the Brother-in-Law of victim Lucy Davis with Council Leader Ian Ward.

“Following the inquest, it has now been officially recognised that excessive speed was a key factor in this collision so, with the support of our colleagues at West Midlands Police, we are now moving forward with plans to install average speed cameras along this stretch of road as well as looking at what other measures might improve road safety in this location.

“The consequences of this awful collision will remain with the relatives of those who died for the rest of their lives and will also stay with the emergency services who attended the scene.

"We don’t want anyone else in our city to have to go through what these families and individuals have experienced.”

The cameras will be operational by the autumn and will cost £90,000 to set up from the city's road safety budget.

Supt Dean Hatton, head of Central Motorway Police Group and West Midlands Force Traffic Unit, said: "We welcome the introduction of any measures that improve safety on our roads."

The crash in which six people were killed

Kasar Jehangir lost control of the Audi S3 as he was trying to negotiate a bend between Lee Bank Middleway and Belgrave Middleway before crashing into an oncoming taxi.

Birmingham Coroner’s Court heard the taxi then collided with a Toyota Yaris, while six other vehicles were involved in the December 17 tragedy, which happened just after 1am.

Taxi driver Imtiaz Mohammed and passengers Lucy Davis and her partner Lee Jenkins

Taxi driver Imtiaz Mohammed, 33, was killed alongside passengers Lucy Davis , 43, and her partner Lee Jenkins, 42, after the Audi S3 crashed into them.

Four of the occupants of the Audi S3 were ejected from the vehicle, two from the boot and two via the sun roof, the inquest heard.

Mohammed Fahsha, 30, Kasar Jehangir, 25, and Tauqeer Hussain, 26, who were in the Audi, died at the scene.

Mr Zakkria Khan, who was also a passenger in the Audi S3 vehicle, was the only survivor.

Following a hearing over two days, Coroner Louise Hunt recorded that all six died as a result of a road traffic collision.

Police Constable Adam Green, a Forensic Collision Investigator, told the inquest that the Audi had been trying to negotiate a shallow left hand bend when the driver lost control.

Mohammed Fahsha, Kasar Jehangir and Tauqeer Hussain
Mohammed Fahsha, Kasar Jehangir and Tauqeer Hussain

He said at the point of impact the Audi had been travelling at 87mph. None of them, he said had been wearing seat belts.

Police also found the occupants of the Audi had smoked cannabis.