I UNDERSTAND from Mr Chambers, chief executive of Hyndburn Council, that the cost of the current traffic-calming programme is £205,000 per year. That is £205,000 of our money that cannot be spent on hospitals, schools, housing etc.

Mr Chambers says that we were consulted about the traffic-calming.

The truth is we were told, not consulted, and now have to live with perhaps the most appalling traffic hazards in the country.

The proposals were never locally tested or evaluated before implementation.

Mr Chambers implies that the emergency services approved the calming. Policemen and firemen who I have spoken to say differently.

For those who know St Hubert's Road, Great Harwood, for example, to transit the many road bumps on an emergency call and zig zag the chicane is to introduce hazards and add precious time to an emergency call-out.

In a heart attack call or a fire, the difference could mean life or death.

I cannot find one emergency service official who will publicly endorse the traffic-calming in Great Harwood, Rishton or elsewhere in Hyndburn.

If someone from the emergency services would like to do so through these columns, I and many others would welcome the explanation.

P CONGDON, Hindle Fold Lane, Great Harwood.

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