Police are today expected to name a man killed in a head-on collision on a notorious stretch of the A11 at the weekend.

Police are today expected to name a man killed in a head-on collision on a notorious stretch of the A11 at the weekend.

The carriageway at Elveden was closed for more than seven hours yesterday as officers investigated the circumstances of Sunday's early morning crash.

Campaigners fighting for the nine-mile stretch between Thetford and the Fiveways Barton Mills roundabout to be dualled said the latest crash provided fresh evidence for the urgent need of the upgrade. It comes as the road is the subject of an ongoing public inquiry into the plans put forward by the Highways Agency.

West Suffolk MP Richard Spring, one of the leading campaigners, said: “This is one more terrible and tragic reason why it is of the upmost priority that this road gets dualled and this is yet another ghastly statistic in a catalogue of dozens of deaths on that stretch of the road over the years.

“This is an impossible situation and I am so pleased now there is a public inquiry taking place, but this simply underlines the importance of getting this terrible road dualled.”

Evidence put forward by the Highways Agency at the inquiry last week suggests the new road scheme would prevent

78 fatal injuries, 36 serious injuries and more than 1,000 slight injuries over the next 60 years.

Over a three-year period between January 2005 and December 2007 there were eight serious and 86 slight accidents on the single-carriageway section.

The latest death on the road happened after a red Nissan Micra and a black Land Rover collided near the war memorial at 3.20am yesterday.

Firefighters used cutting equipment to free a man from the southbound-travelling Micra but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the other vehicle was taken to West Suffolk Hospital by ambulance to be checked over, but was not thought to have suffered more than minor injuries.

It is understood both of the vehicles involved are registered to drivers in Norfolk.

The lanes between the junctions with the B1106 and the A1101 were closed off following the incident, with traffic being diverted through Brandon. The Highways Agency was involved in clearing the road of fuel spillage as a result of the incident.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said it had been a head-on collision and there was a pool of surface water on the carriageway where the crash happened.

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to call Pc Richard Godden at the Serious Collision Investigation Team on 01473 613500.