CAMPAIGNERS waiting for a weight restriction on the notorious Grane Road today said it was just a matter of time before the next accident happened.

On Wednesday just two weeks before a ban on heavy vehicles comes into effect the road was closed for five hours following a smash near the Edgworth turning, when a lorry skidded 15 feet down an embankment.

Road safety campaigners have been fighting for years to see a weight restriction imposed on the road, known as an accident blackspot thanks to the number of heavy vehicles using it as a rat-run to the M65.

But delays have meant the restrictions originally announced for 2004 are not due to come into effect until later this month.

Tony Hodbod, of the Grane Road Residents' Association, said: "While these vehicles are running over this road, and it's quite unsuitable for them, these things are bound to happen. It's a matter of time before the next one.

"What worries us particularly is the behaviour in inhabited areas. Several hundred people live here and drivers come through like bats out of hell.

"These changes won't stop the problem but they will remove a major source of disruption to the quality of life. I can often see five articulated lorries and they come from all over the world."

The weight restriction, which has been agreed by Lancashire County Council, will see signs put up banning vehicle of more than 7.5tonnes from the road. But the residents' association is also campaigning for a 40mph speed limit, speed cameras and a roundabout near Hasling-den cemetery.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said the delay was because of the Highways Agency needing to find funds for the warning signs, but the scheme was due to begin on February 13.