A FARNHAM taxi driver spoke out this week about his miraculous escape from a terrifying accident at the notorious Hickley's Corner.

Grandfather of six Tony Brooker, 64, was lucky to walk away uninjured from the collision which resulted in a van "somersaulting 10 feet" in the air before coming to rest on its roof an estimated 90 feet further along the A31.

Remarkably, Mr Brooker's Seat Alhambra car suffered no more than a damaged bumper in the incident. He had been on his way to pick up a passenger before the accident happened.

Mr Brooker, who has more than 23 years' experience of driving taxis in the town, said: "I was pulling out from Station Hill to go across to South Street.

"I checked the lights and the roads before I set off and suddenly I saw this van coming straight at me. It seemed to appear out of nowhere. I slammed on the breaks. All I could think at the time was 'I am going to die here'."

Although he was too shaken to remember anything more about what happened directly after the impact, Mr Brooker had noticed a group of pedestrians waiting on a traffic island at the junction.

This week, fully recovered and back at work, Mr Brooker explained: "I think it's a miracle that myself and the van driver survived and a miracle that none of the pedestrians were hit. Someone who saw the accident told me the van had shot up at least 10 feet in the air before it landed on its roof."

The driver of the van fled the scene on foot and nearly two weeks after the crash, which happened at 11-50 pm on July 12, police are still trying to track him down.

Mr Brooker is now calling for Surrey County Council to take urgent action to make the accident blackspot safer for pedestrians and drivers.

He has claimed that a flyover must be built at the junction to prevent future accidents.

Branding the recent scheme to change the road layout at the junction as giving "nothing more than a cosmetic improvement", Mr Brooker also hit out at the council for "penny pinching".

A frustrated Mr Brooker said: "You can't put a price on a life. I have seen so many near misses at the junction and I'm just counting myself lucky to be alive."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Surrey County Council's local committee said there has been a lot of positive feedback about the recently completely work.

"We have changed the phasing of the traffic signals and the overhead lights now shine a white light, which is much better for visibility than the traditional yellow glow. The work was carried out to make the junction safer," the spokesman said.

The spokesman confirmed that Hickley's Corner is a "known accident blackspot".

The most recent fatal accident at the junction was on December 11 of last year. Turkish au-pair Didem Cayirli, 22, had been crossing the road on foot when she was killed after being hit by a car.

The spokesman explained that a multimillion pound improvement scheme is being proposed by the county council to make the junction safer.

A bid has been made to central government by Surrey County County for funding to replace the Hickley's Corner traffic signals with a roundabout, and lower the A31 to pass beneath the junction in an underpass.

If this bid is accepted, work on the scheme could start in 2007.

An exhibition will be held for the public to view the proposals from September 24 to 27.

The spokesman went on to add that an application is also being made by the county council to the Government Office of the South East for funding to install traffic barriers along a stretch of the A31 near to Hickley's Corner.

Details of the public exhibition of the A31 proposals will be announced in the "near future" by the county council.