POLICE, MPs and residents of the most dangerous road in East Lancashire today joined forces in a call for action and pleaded: "Stop the carnage."

Another serious accident added six more wounded casualties yesterday to the grim total of deaths and injuries on the Grane Road between Blackburn and Haslingden.

Now the Lancashire Evening Telegraph has launched a campaign to stop the toll of accidents.

Two Blackburn College students Gareth Edwards, 19, and 17-year-old Joseph Slupski, both from Harwood, Bolton, died earlier this month in an accident near the Gray Mare pub, Grane Road.

Stephen John Kelly, 34, of Parkinson Street, Haslingden, died after he lost control of his motorbike on a sharp bend near the Rossendale boundary last year.

More than 90 people have been injured in other accidents.

Peter Butterfield, editor of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, said: "Like everyone else, I know the dangers of this road, using it on a regular basis. Some of my staff use it every day and when we hear of yet another accident we hold our breath hoping that one of our colleagues is not involved.

"This road has been dangerous for years, now it is lethal. Yet the authorities seem to be doing precious little. If we can prompt them into action it's the least we can do.

"Everyone using that road takes their life in their hands. We want to see double white lines along the whole length of the Grane, HGVs banned, speed limits, cameras and strong police enforcement for motorists causing danger to others." The Grane Residents Association, which has campaigned for safety measures after claiming traffic has increased since the M65 link road opened, met with Rossendale, Hyndburn and Lancashire councils in March. The councils agreed work including reducing speed limits to 50mph, further reductions in residential areas, better road markings, and traffic calming schemes to be installed by the end of the summer and speed cameras and other measures to be introduced later.

Rossendale Borough Council also pledged to remove the signs marked Blackburn on the A56 bypass and the Haslingden signs on the M65 were also to be removed.

But GRA chairman Tim Barlow said plans he received this week from Lancashire County Council promised much less and nothing has yet been done. He believes the different authorities are failing to communicate.

He said: "The proposals they have come up with are minimalistic. The latest figures show the number of vehicles using the road have gone up again to almost 10,000 in 12 hours and close to 100 people have been injured, but the councils are going back on what they originally promised."

GRA Secretary Margaret Murray said: "I think it's very positive that the Lancashire Evening Telegraph is getting involved.

"So many accidents have happened during the summer and autumn, what's it going to be like in winter? The road is going to be permanently closed.

"I would like to see double white lines on more sections of the road. At the moment, people take crazy risks to overtake." Blackburn MP and Home Secretary Jack Straw said: "I know from personal experience how dangerous the Grane Road is. I support any measures to improve the road's safety."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, whose constituency includes Haslingden, said: "Everybody has been appalled by the terrible accident toll on the Grane Road in recent years. It is long overdue that something is done to improve safety.

"I welcome the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's campaign. We need to see what can be done about better signposting and we need urgent measures to make it safer.

"The county council and Rossendale Council must act swiftly on their long-promised improvements and motorists must take greater care."

Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson backed the Evening Telegraph campaign, urged motorists to take care, and called for a review of signposting on the M65, M66 and the Grane Road itself.

She said: "I fully support this campaign. Its a treacherous road and people who don't know it are often going to find themselves in grave difficulties.

"I would urge motorists using the road to drive with extreme care. I would also urge the Highways Agency and Lancashire County Council to urgently review signposting on the M65, M66 and the Grane Road itself, to see what can be done to reduce usage of the road and improve safety." Police today urged motorists to stop taking risks on the road. Road policing unit officer Sgt Eric Marshall said: "It's not necessarily a killer road, it's the standard of driving on that road. On a daily basis, drivers on that road are attempting overtakes that are too risky.

"It's the worst road in the district in the winter because it is the first to ice up, but drivers still drive at normal speed as if it's a sunny day."

When the two students were killed, Coun Nick Pilling, chairman of Rossendale's engineering and planning committee, said he was unable to say when the work would be completed.

He said: "Identifying something as a priority and scheduling the work doesn't happen overnight. This road has been identified as one of the most dangerous in Lancashire. It's definitely a priority although I know that might seem little consolation at this time."

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