THE Grane Road lorry ban has not solved the problems at the accident blackspot, according to police.

On the second anniversary of the ban on vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes, an officer said heavy goods vehicles may not have been to blame for the high crash figures on the road.

However the Grane Road Residents' Association said the ban had "certainly worked" and must continue in the long-term.

Vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes were banned from the road - linking Blackburn and Haslingden - in February 2006 The ban was introduced after concerns that slow-moving lorries were frustrat-ing motorists, who were overtaking the HGVs and putting others at risk.

Police have staged occasional checkpoints to take enforce-ment action against motorists flouting the ban.

But police said that, despite the ban, a lot of accidents were still happening on the road.

And Police Constable Colin Peacock said officers were now unsure whether HGVs were causing accidents in the first place. PC Peacock, from the road policing unit, said there were no new accident figures available but added: "We've had a mixed result with the ban.

"It hasn't reduced the amount of accidents as much as we had hoped, but I would say it has reduced the number of HGVs using the road by about 75 per cent. The ban was fought on road safety issues.

"It was perceived that people overtaking lorries were causing accidents, but now it seems that they are overtaking other cars. A lot of accidents are still happening.

"There are a few other issues such as the road surface that may be contributing to accidents, and the report into the effect of HGVs will last three years."

Residents of Grane Road, who have campaigned for years for safety improvements at the accident blackspot, said the ban had made "a nightmare road less of a nightmare."

Tony Hodbod of the Grane Road Residents' Association, said: "The ban must continue.

"It has certainly worked.

"There are a few rogue lorry drivers that still use it, mainly continental drivers who pay no regard to the signs.

"We must also make sure people keep to the 30mph limit in the residential area because it puts residents at constant risk."