Cameras 'must go'

Five cameras were put up in the Rossendale village along the A671 Market Street in June in response to a series of smashes on the road.

An investigation into road casualty patterns showed that between 1999 and 2003 there were 24 reported accidents causing injuries along the 6km length of road between Britannia and Broadley. Five involved children aged between three and 15 years old being knocked down after stepping out into the road.

But there have been two more accidents resulting in injuries since the cameras went up.

The first near Quarry Street resulted in a pedestrian suffering serious injuries, while the second in the Coppice Drive area of Whitworth caused four minor injuries after a shunt.

The Association of British Drivers today called for the cameras to be taken down saying they would not prevent accidents.

Spokesman Nigel Humphries said: "It shows speed cameras are at best irrelevant to road safety. The people who are responsible for putting these cameras up don't have a clue about speed and accidents.

"They use accidents as an excuse to put cameras up and this is why the number of people killed on the roads in speed camera-obsessed council areas have increased.

"We want these cameras down. There's a place for them but only where there's a demonstrable case of speed-related accidents."

But Lancashire County Council bosses say the scheme needs to be monitored for three years as conclusions can't be established on a short-term basis, adding collisions largely result from human factors that are not predictable .

But if accidents continue to happen before the three-year monitoring period is over then they have pledged to consider other measures.

The issue is on the agenda for Monday's meeting of Lancashire Local - Rossendale, where council environment director Terry Carter is due to report the latest position to residents. The meeting takes place at Futures Park, Bacup, at 6.30pm.