ROAD haulage firms in East Lancashire say companies from outside the area are using the Grane Road as a rat run.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Stop The Carnage campaign is aiming to remove the sign which directs traffic from the A56 on to the notorious Blackburn to Haslingden route.

But hauliers from East Lancashire say they rarely need to use the road since the M65 extension was built and say companies from outside the area are the ones who use the route and make traffic problems worse.

Steve Walsh, of Kenyon Road Haulage, Thornley Avenue, Blackburn, said: "We don't tend to use the Grane Road because we don't need to.

"But we do know the road is used as a short cut between the M66 and the M65 and that it is mainly companies from outside the area who are responsible for using it.

"You can see what happens. They look on the map and they see it as a short cut without knowing what it is like."

Iain Smith, whose transport company is based in Pritchard Street, Blackburn, said: "We use the Grane Road if we are delivering to the Rawtenstall area, otherwise we use the motorway.

"Many firms outside the area, without local knowledge, are bound to look at the map and see it as the shortest route to the Blackburn area. Removing the signs would be a good idea."

Alan Barker, of Altham Freight Services, of Moorfield Road, Altham, said: "We have to use the Grane Road sometimes if we are delivering in the area but otherwise we use the motorway.

"The problem is speed. HGVs don't move very quickly and drivers get impatient to overtake, and that is where the problems begin."

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