NO changes have been made to a section of the M40 near Bicester known as “fog alley” almost a year since a man died in a 38-vehicle pile up.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the death of Robert Pilott in an accident between junctions nine and 10 that a senior police officer said was the worst he had ever seen.

Fog described as a “sheet of plastic” was a contributing factor to the crash in which 64-year-old Mr Pilott, from Woking, died.

But despite a letter from Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter asking Highways England to investigate installing a fog detector following an inquest, nothing has been done.

Mr Salter returned a conclusion of accidental death and noted there had been “extremely dense and very localised fog” in the area.

Highways England spokeswoman Valerie Amar-Matthews said they had “completed a review” and “concluded that a fog detection system could help improve safety”.

But transport bosses are still debating where best to put the device.

In a bizarre coincidence, tomorrow also marks exactly 25 years to the day that a major crash at almost the same location claimed a woman’s life.

Former Banbury Fire Station manager Nigel Robinson, who attended the crash in 1991, said he could remember it “vividly”.

Mr Robinson said he did not think installing a fog detector would do any good.

He said: “I think drivers have to adapt to the conditions.

“It’s in a valley so you will get fog, but I don’t see how a fog detector needs to be put in place to tell somebody that it’s foggy.”

But since the accident last year, people involved in the crash said the fog descended so fast it was too late to avoid the accident.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail at the time, father and daughter Neil and Jemma Crowder said they felt lucky to escape without serious injuries. Mr Crowder, 52, from Kennington, said at the time that all he could have done was brake, but it was too late.

He added: “Not long after joining the road the fog just dropped and you couldn’t see anything.”

Isabelle Le Breton, who was driving a blue Hyundai Getz, said: “It was like having a sheet of plastic pulled in front of you.”