Authorities must repair a fence next to a reservoir which was the scene of a fatal traffic incident early this year, before another tragedy occurs.

That is the message from concerned residents, three months after the incident which saw a young mother die after her car plunged into Stithians Reservoir on a foggy May evening.

Redruth mother of two Hazel Brown, who worked at Acorn Toddler Group in Penryn, died when her vehicle went through the fence after leaving the road near Carnmenellis.

Now Four Lanes resident Donna Rowe, who drives to her job in Falmouth every day past the crash site, has said the fact the fence has not been repaired is a "big concern" and an "accident waiting to happen."

She said: "The biggest concern is that it's not been repaired for months. It gets very, very foggy all the way along there.

"When the winter comes and the fog comes down, someone else is going to go through the fence. From the road down to the reservoir is a steep drop, there's no bank you can walk down and stop yourself."

Remains of the old fence can still be seen at the crash site, but it has been flattened down over the bank, and the concrete fence supports have been ripped from the ground. All that is currently in place is a line of orange traffic cones between the two sections of remaining fence.

Mrs Rowe has said she is not just worried about the possibility of another car going over the edge, but also about the risk of people on foot falling in the reservoir.

She said: "I was on the way to work recently, there were some children hanging around there. It should be repaired by now. Nobody should be able to get into the reservoir.

"I know that people fish from the reservoir but they have got keys to get in the gate."

And she was told by a lifelong Four Lanes resident that the fencing was put up around 30 years ago. She said: "It's never been replaced and it's all rotten. That fencing should have stopped a car.

"All I know is that I'm not the only one that has voiced these concerns. It's an accident waiting to happen."

A spokesperson for the South West Lakes Trust, which manages the land for South West Water, said the company had put in an order for a like-for-like replacement fence over the weekend, and a contractor had now been instructed.

They said: "That will hopefully be happening fairly soon."

The spokesperson said: "During the week of the accident, we did contact the local highways about them putting in some crash barriers... because that area of the road can be quite treacherous," and added that the current order was "perimeter fencing repair rather than being for traffic incidents."