SIGNS are to be placed in Blackburn's newly-pedestrianised Church Street -- warning people to look out for cars and lorries!

The move has prompted critics of the £2.5million scheme, who slammed the decision to allow vehicles to use the area and the introduction of parking bays, to label the whole thing a waste of money.

Council chiefs acted after several near-misses on the cobbled street since it was completed, because lorries still use it to access the loading bay in Blackburn Shopping Centre.

Coun Andy Kay said: "Despite pedestrians having priority, there is still an access route for lorries to get to the shopping centre.

"Some drivers seem to be oblivious to the fact that it is no longer a normal road, but it isn't just the drivers. People using the street need to be aware of the fact that there are vehicles moving on the street and watch out for them."

Officers have now been instructed to look at installing warning signs.

Coun Kay added: "They may not fit in with the streetscape that we have been careful to create but the important thing is people's safety."

Critics of the pedestrianisation scheme today said Coun Kay's admission proved that the Church Street revamp was a waste of Government money.

A spokesman for the RAC Foundation said: "Creating something which gives pedestrians priority has to mean banning all traffic."Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: "People need to be aware that vehicles do come on to pedestrian areas.

"But there are ways of getting around the potential risks. For example, the council could restrict delivery vehicles to quieter times."

Jeff Stone, who runs a hairdressers in Fleming Square, which is near to Church Street, said: "People feel totally safe to wander around at will when quite obviously they are not safe."

While lorries access the shopping centre via Higher Church Street and Church Street, 20 parking spaces have been created at the Railway Road end of Church Street for short-stay visitors.

Opposition councillors claimed allowing vehicles on to the street wrecked the vision of creating a pavement cafe haven.

Conservative leader Colin Rigby said: "I think the layout of Church Street is very poor overall. If the council was going to pedestrianise it, they should have banned all traffic on there.

"As it is, the design is abysmal and is a nightmare with all the different levels and surfaces for blind and disabled people."

Coun Paul Browne, leader of the Lib Dems, said: "You can't create something which is supposed to be for pedestrians and then let cars drive down."