RESIDENTS who have been driven round the bend by wagons rolling past their terraced houses have called on an MP to put the brakes on the problem.

Homeowners in Cambridge Street and St Hubert's Road, Great Harwood, invited Hyndburn MP Greg Pope to see the trucks for himself.

Paul Hutchinson, a shift worker for Whitbreads brewery in Preston, who lives in St Hubert's Road, claims residents are constantly being asked to move their cars by wagon drivers going to industrial units in the area.

Residents say the wagons are going to carton manufacturers Boxes Ltd, which owns a distribution centre in Cambridge Street.

He said: "It's been the same for the last 20 years. Wagons are hitting cars and we're always being asked to move them.

"There's a play area at the bottom of the street and elderly people live round here. It's just so dangerous.

"It's got to the stage where someone will have to be killed before they do something about all the trucks coming past.

"We asked Mr Pope to come along and see if we can get the council to do something about it."

Tony Hill, manager of Boxes Ltd, said: "We haven't had any complaints from residents but if anyone has any problems we'd be glad to discuss them.

"We have three lorries and two vans and if any of them did hit a car in the street, I'm sure my drivers would report it to me."

Mr Pope said: "It's a long-running problem because the terraced houses were built for mill workers on narrow streets. "Now the mills have changed use and residents are left with wagons rumbling along these little roads.

"I'm very concerned and I'm going to contact the site owner to discuss the problem and see if there is any possibility of them moving."

A spokesman for Hyndburn Council's operations department said: "This has cropped up in the past, but we have had nothing in writing recently.

"It's unlikely anything could be done because the wagons are for legitimate business which already has planning permission. However, staff have talked to residents in the past and if they have any concerns we will look into them."

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