Locked up MOTHER of six Elena Hampson says she has to keep her five youngest children locked up because speeding vehicles have turned a sleepy Lowton backwater into a trackside nightmare.

Mrs Hampson and her next door neighbour and mother-of-two Den Makin are threatening to take drastic action unless something is done to curb traffic dangers in Sandy Lane.

She told the Journal: "We live in fear. We are terrified of stepping out of our gates and have to keep them locked for the children's safety. Cars speed past here at 60-plus miles per hour in a 40 limit, and motorbikes reach far higher speeds. The traffic has increased greatly over the past 12 months. Sandy Lane gets used as a rat run and between 8am and 9am and 4pm and 6pm it is horrendous. "At this time of the year things are made worse because there is only one street lamp near our homes and there are blind exits from our property." The Hampsons, mum and dad Stephen and their offspring, live side by side with the Makins, mum and dad Den and Dan and seven year-old Nathaniel and Bethany, four, in a double farmhouse. There is no footpath outside their homes and vehicles parked in front have been hit by passing vehicles. Mrs Hampson, who has three year-old twins Rowan and Lauren, daughter Rebecca, six, and sons Philip, eight, Ryan, nine, and Daniel, 16, also keeps horses and admits taking them out on to Sandy Lane is a nerve-wracking experience. Now she says she and Mrs Makin, are considering blocking off the roadway with cones to highlight the dangers of irresponsible driving.

She says: "We were told by the highways' authority that Sandy Lane is not a priority for traffic calming. Apparently there haven't been enough accidents to merit action. Well, we don't want to add to those statistics so we feel there should be some calming measures. We need signs to warn of horses and children, mirrors so we can safely leave our driveway, laybys in front of the houses and speed cameras."

Hope Carr ward Cllr Mark Hale, who lives in the vicinity, said he sympathised with Mrs Hampson and condemned the 'lunatics' who used Sandy Lane like a race track.

He said: "I sympathise with her view there are some lunatics who speed up and down there. One of the problems with heavy traffic is the road is a link between Slag lane and Newton Road and the level of usage has increased dramatically as the number of homes in Lowton has grown. Really the speeding problem is a police matter.

"If Mrs Hampson wants to put up a mirror to increase visibility when exiting her drive that is fine. I have one myself -- which I paid for."

A council spokesman promised the problems would be further investigated.