BLACKPOOL landau owners have lost their bid to ply the promenade on Saturday nights during the Illuminations.

The Landau Owners' Association this week formally objected to Blackpool Council's ban on the horse-drawn carriages on Saturdays, the peak night for Lights Traffic and a prime time for fares.

But the council's executive committee yesterday re-imposed the exclusion order for road safety reasons.

The landau owners had argued that Illuminations traffic was reducing, that Friday was just as busy as Saturday, that landaus actually help road safety by slowing traffic down and that promenade parkers contribute to snarl-ups.

Council leader Coun Ivan Taylor said: "Although we listened very carefully to the objections the executive confirmed the traditional position in the interests of road safety." Traffic counts during recent years have shown a slight increase in volumes, the executive was told, and landaus caused traffic build-ups that led to driver frustrations, increasing accident dangers.

A previous landau ban on Sunday nights was withdrawn after Sunday traffic volumes fell.

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