Residents renew road safety call

Grane Road is a main route between Rossendale and Blackburn

People living near a Lancashire accident blackspot are renewing calls for increased road safety measures.

Grane Road in Haslingden is the main route between Rossendale and Blackburn and has a 50mph speed limit, with some 40mph and 30mph stretches.

It has been the scene of several fatal accidents, including one on Tuesday when a man died and three passengers were injured when their car overturned.

Local residents are calling for reduced speed limits and speed cameras.

HGVs were banned from the road last year on safety grounds.

'No progress'

But Tony Hodbod, from the residents' association, has said their voices are still not being heard.

"There's been no progress. Our shopping list remains the same as it was in 1999," he said.

"We want two major safety measures - we want a 40mph speed limit from Heath Clough to the present 30mph limit, and we also want speed cameras."

Last month, 10 people were hurt when a bus and car collided on the road.

Days later, a woman had to be cut free from her vehicle after a three-car pile up.

Lorries were banned from the road in 2006

Lancashire County Council said they had already cut accidents on the road by increasing safety measures.

A spokesman said: "A number of measures were completed along Grane Road in March 2000.

"These included a reduced 50mph speed limit and various signs and carriageway markings, which have significantly reduced the number of reported injury accidents, particularly those resulting in deaths or serious injuries.

"We introduced a 7.5 tonne weight limit 18 months ago and the effects of this will be reviewed in a further 18 months.

"Although we have implemented a range of safety features on the road which have significantly reduced accidents it is possible the accident record will be looked at again."