BIKERS who ride until 9pm on a field behind specially adapted homes for elderly people have been accused of making residents' lives a misery.

The residents in Peel Close and the surrounding area have sent a 70-name petition to Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw about the constant noise from bikes which race around Lower Hill Farm Park, in Longshaw.

A community meeting was held a couple of weeks ago and representatives from the council, the community, the police and the bikers all attended to try and find a suitable solution.

But the leader of the residents group, Mrs Kay Watson, 76, says she has been passed from pillar to post by Blackburn with Darwen Council without anything ever being done to stop the noise. She said: "This has been going on for 12 months now and we have just had enough. The sheer noise is absolutely incredible. The track has actually been cut out of the land, but I don't think anybody has ever had planning permission.

"Some of my neighbours are ill because of it. A lady lives near me who is a night worker and can't get to sleep during the day. We're all just fed up with the aggravation."

"And there is the Longshaw home for the elderly, a school and a nursery in the area. Why should we all have to put up with this noise without anybody being willing to do anything about it?

"If you complain to the bikers all you get back is verbal abuse. We've complained to the police, but they have done nothing either."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The bikers do not have council permission to use this land, but they were prepared to compromise and limit their use of the land. However, this was not acceptable to some members of the community.

"The council, police and community leaders are trying to find a solution that meets everyone's needs and does not simply move the problem elsewhere.

"Residents living in the area are being consulted and more than 180 letters have been sent out asking for views on the issue.

"Everyone will continue to work to find a solution, but because the people involved both want differing solutions, there is always going to be someone who is not happy with the final outcome."

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