THE speed limit on the M65 at Blackburn should be dropped to 50mph to stop noise pollution, according to a new report.

A study, commissioned by the Noise Association and Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), found the green belt land around Blackburn was one of the areas severely affected by the problem, which made residents’ lives a misery.

Researchers surveyed the Chilterns in the south east, parts of Dumfries and Galloway, the North Wessex Downs and the Lake District, along with Blackburn, and found that many people were “significantly disturbed” by the noise, even when they lived some distance from the road.

The report claims the problem for Blackburn is caused by the M65 corridor and the CPRE is calling for speed limit to be dropped along the motorway.

Tom Oliver, of the CPRE, said: “It is becoming ever clearer that the quality of our environment is vital to our health and well-being. Tranquillity is a key measure of that quality. But so far, with transport policy, the Government and its advisers, including the Planning Inspectorate, are woefully silent on the issue.

“We need the Department for Transport and other decision makers to wake up to this urgent problem, and catch up with progressive thinking.”

The report also suggests that a key factor contributing to the increase in noise has been the growth in the volume of traffic and an increase in traffic speeds in many areas.

Particular problems were experienced by residents where a new road had been built, or an existing road widened, in a previously peaceful area.

But the report emphasises that traffic noise is not confined to major roads.

The report argues that the government should put in place policies aimed at "cleaning up the countryside polluted by road noise, just as its rivers and estuaries have been cleaned in recent decades.