BARBER Martin Baybutt has added his voice to the growing calls for action to put a halt to convoys of lorries thundering through a residential Blackburn district.

People in Shadsworth Road have written to Blackburn with Darwen Council to complain about streams of heavy traffic passing their homes.

The campaigners claim the heavy vehicles are a major nuisance causing pollution, disturbance and damage to houses.

The homeowners organised a petition calling for action but the town hall have so far ignored their pleas.

Officers claim the traffic will ease when the new M65 extension open this autumn. A review of the situation is planned for early next year. Martin, 50, who has run his shop in Accrington Road for almost 20 years, claims most of the people in Intack are fed up with the lorries.

He said: "If the residents had bought their petition down to Intack, hundreds of people would have signed.

"I am sick to death of lorries going past my shop. The noise is non-stop from the early hours of the morning."

Martin, who lives behind his premises, says large cracks have started to appear in his shop front as a result of vibrations from the lorries.

He added: "The situation used to be terrible and I wrote to the council 18 months ago to urge them to do something about it.

"The road was resurfaced and things got a lot better but the road was dug up to replace a water main and the noise is now just as bad.

"The lorries come trundling through in convoy and the whole situation is absolutely ludicrous.

"Nobody seems to know where these vehicles are coming from or where they are heading.

"It's about time the council did something about the lorries so we can all get some peace and quiet."

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