RESIDENTS on a busy road claim they are having to play "Russian roulette" every time they reverse their cars out of their driveways.

And angry householders have demanded action over speeding motorists who use the route as a rat run to British Aerospace in Samlesbury and the M6.

More than 80 residents packed St Mary's Primary School in Mellor for a meeting of the Ribble Valley Police and Community Forum to demand traffic calming measures after 15 accidents between Ramsgreave and Mellor in less than a year.

Over 150 householders from Higher Ramsgreave Road, Mellor Lane and Mellor Brow have signed a petition demanding action.

Dorothy Eddleston, of South View in Higher Ramsgreave Road, said motorists "drove like lunatics" along the route.

"I have lived here for many years and it used to be a quiet road, but now motorists drive like lunatics. Their speed is frightening. I live on a particularly bad s-bend and have counted 15 smashes in less than a year, but unless someone is killed the authorities won't take notice.

"One car spun out of control near my house and smashed a postbox out of the ground. We are playing Russian roulette just to get our cars in and out of our drives," she said.

The residents' call for traffic-calming measures at the troubled spot are being backed by councillors.

Mellor parish and borough councillor Charles Warkman said the road was becoming a real problem.

"There is no doubt about it, some form of traffic calming is needed. The problem is that there are no official statistics to prove the number of accidents. It is a fatal accident just waiting to happen and how we solve it I just don't know," he said.

He called for drivers to change their attitudes and said British Aerospace workers had "responded positively" at a recent meeting with Mellor bobby Mick Fazackerley.

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