THE father of twin nine-year-old boys was one of three people killed in a road crash at an accident blackspot.

Gordon McRae, 46, who also leaves two daughters, aged 18 and 13, and wife Lorna, was killed when a silver Mercedes travelling north-bound on the A8011 apparently veered out of control and hit the Ford Focus he was travelling in.

His work colleague, Neil Harold, 34, who was driving the Focus, and the driver of the Mercedes, Greig Brown, 30, also died in the tragedy at around 12.45pm on Wednesday.

Mr McRae, of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, and Mr Harold, of Ralston, Paisley, who is survived by his wife Laura and two-year-old son, worked together at engineering firm Nallatech in Cumbernauld.

The men's families were too upset to speak last night, but a relative at Mr Harold's home thanked the emergency services for their efforts.

A spokesman for Nallatech said: "It is with great sadness that Nallatech mourns the deaths of cherished colleagues and friends Gordon McRae, VP of Engineering and Neil Harold, project manager, who were killed in a tragic car accident.

"As you can appreciate, this is a difficult time for all concerned, with many of the Nallatech staff still in a state of shock and grief."

North Lanarkshire Council last night reduced the northbound carriageway of the stretch of road to one lane as it looked to introduce new safety measures.

It follows years of campaigning for increased measures to combat accidents at the blackspot, known locally as Wilderness Brae.

Councillor James Coyle, convener of the council's planning and transportation committee, said: "This move follows a meeting with Strathclyde Police and is in response to public concern.

"It will also allow our engineers to continue their own investigation with a view to introducing further safety measures on this road where appropriate.

"We would ask all motorists to be aware of the reduced width and adjust their driving technique and speed accordingly."

SNP MSP for Cumbernauld, Jamie Hepburn has been campaigning for years to have further safety measures introduced on the road

He said: "This is tragic news and I want to express my condolences to the families of the victims at what I can only imagine must be a harrowing time.

"Unfortunately this is not the first time there has been a serious accident on this stretch of road; indeed, these are not the first fatalities.

"While we must wait for further details to emerge, I will be writing to North Lanarkshire Council again about this stretch of road to request they look at what further safety measures they can put in place."

The Focus and the Mercedes hit each other head-on when the Mercedes crossed the central reservation.

A 71-year-old man in a Fiat Punto, who has not been named, was also caught up in the carnage, but escaped with minor injuries. He was taken to Monklands Hospital where he was treated and later released.

Car enthusiast Mr Brown, of Condorrat, Cumbernauld, featured a photograph of his beloved Mercedes on his Facebook account and also a picture of a silver Aston Martin he dreamed of owning.

Below the Mercedes picture was a caption which read: "The AMG CLK 320 Yummy and Powerful -"

A Facebook page set up to highlight the dangers of the road gained more than 3000 "likes" in just a few hours.

Thousands flocked to the page to leave tributes to the victims and criticise North Lanarkshire Council for ignoring the high number of crashes on the road.

Razwana Mohammed wrote: "My husband had a crash on the road last year. He was lucky, but still nothing has been done. When are the council going to learn? What's it going to take?"

Another post stated: "Strangely, they have barriers on the other side of the road at Condorrat, so why not the Wilderness Brae? We could have saved three lives."