COUNCIL chiefs have pledged to trim back overgrown hedges that were forcing pedestrians to walk on one of East Lancashire’s most dangerous roads.

Grandmother Carmelita Curtis reported the problem, on a stretch of Grane Road, Haslingden, to councillors earlier this month.

Now, after the Lancashire Telegraph intervened, Lancashire County Council has said it will take action to make the footpath safe.

Mrs Curtis, 52, lives in Grane Road and uses the path regularly while out walking with her grandson, Oakely Curtis, two. She said: “The problem is if you have a pram or a wheelchair, then you’d have real trouble going out onto the road.

“It’s so busy and dangerous. Oakley cut himself on the hedges one day trying to walk round them, and that was the final straw.

“It’s near the turn-off for the A56 towards the motorway, so it’s not a safe place to be on the road. It’s been a problem for a while, but in the last two months it has got ridiculous.”

Conservative councillor Granville Morris, who represents Haslingden’s Greenfield ward, said: “It’s a very busy road and it’s dangerous for people to have to walk in the road itself.

“I’ve contacted the county council, which said the Department for Transport own that stretch of road. It needs sorting. It’s been like that for almost two months and a lot of people use the road.”

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said the affected area, opposite Grane Park, would be worked on today.

The spokesman added: “We are concerned about the dangers posed to pedestrians so we will remove the obstructing vegetation on Monday. We will then seek to recover our costs from the Department for Transport, which we understand owns the land.”