ANGRY residents have called on councillors to press home their demands for a weight restriction along a road beseiged by heavy goods vehicles.

People living along Hud Hey Road and Roundhill Road, Haslingden, and neighbouring routes, have welcomed Lancashire County Council proposals to impose traffic-calming measures there.

But neighbours insist that their biggest fear remains the road safety threat posed by lorries using the route as a short-cut to the A56, M66 and M62 beyond.

And residents packed Whitworth Civic Hall to blast county councillors and highways engineers for "ignoring" their year-long campaign for a seven-and-a-half tonne weight limit on Hud Hey and Roundhill roads.

The committee heard that Lancashire police had reservations over the Grane Road weight restriction, as it appeared to have encouraged drivers back onto the route, in the absence of lorries Residents' spokesman Christine Holden told a meeting of the Lancashire Local Rossendale committee: "We appreciate the fact that safety measures are being put in.

"But we are here again about the weight restriction which we want to see on the B6236.

"We are still facing a lot of disruption to the quality of our lives because of HGVs and there is a huge safety issue."

The committee was told that just this week a family dog had been killed by a lorry along the route - and they feared the next victim could be a child.

Residents have been told that they could have to wait until 2009 for any weight limit to be considered, until the impact of the current restrictions on the nearby Grane Road were assessed.

The possibility of a weight restriction along Lottice Lane, near Oswaldtwistle, has also been suggested, to tackle the HGVS issue.

In the meantime an additional 40mph zone will be created along Roundhill Road and a 30mph zone for a stretch just before the Rising Bridge Road junction.

The give way' priorities at the Brook Street and Hud Hey Road junction will also be reversed in favour of Haslingden-bound traffic in future.

County councillor Bob Wilkinson said he would continue to campaign for a weight restriction along Hud Hey Road, despite the most recent setback.

"It took 12 years to get a weight restriction imposed along the Grane Road and if if takes another 12 years to get one for Hud Hey Road then I will still be campaigning for it," he said.

"This is just the start of improvements to improve safety on Hud Hey Road."

The speed restriction proposals will be consulted upon between December 14 and January 18, with any objections reported back to the Lancashire Local Rossendale committee.