I AM secretary of Lower Darwen Road Safety Panel and I witnessed the aftermath of the cement mixer crash on Thursday June 17.

I was so disturbed by what I saw that I went back to photo the incident, because an hour or so later it would have been the slaughter of the innocents, as the place is a gathering point for the young people when they exit Darwen Vale High School and often a place frequented by an ice cream van.

We have presented a nine-page written report stating our concerns on the roads and safety in our area to the local highways department at the council, and for some reason they have not even bothered to acknowledge it or ask for meetings to discuss our concerns.

Our worries over the motorway, A666 junction were on page one of our document and are shared by staff at the high school. However, there are more places in our area where only fate has stopped fatalities.

We have notified the head of traffic police, but got no reply from them either, so as a last resort we have contacted the Chief Constable to see if we can elicit some form of response.

It seems an act of absolute criminal neglect if we have to kill people before action is taken. The problems affect all in our community, trapping the elderly indoors, stopping children playing out, worse still, stopping parents from walking their children to school, thus adding to the burden of the school run.

The time for action is now.

GRAHAM CARTER , Kingsway, Lower Darwen.