CALLS have been made to reduce the speed limit on a busy Hyndburn road after a number of accidents.

Concerns have been raised about speeding traffic in Burnley Road for a number of years and now councillors are putting together an action plan to try and tackle the problems.

There have been five or six crashes at the Bolton Avenue and Higher Gate Road junctions this year, according to Dave Parkins, a former Hyndburn councillor who is treasurer of the Huncoat Community Forum where the issue was discussed recently.

He said: “It has been going on for a number of years and this year there have five or six accidents.

“We put forward some suggestions including extending the 30mph limit from just past the Vauxhall garage to the roundabout.”

Accidents have also been occurring due to reduced visibility at the junctions which Mr Parkins puts down to driver error.

He said: “We are also very short of police. There is a PCSO who works two days a week and the county council can’t monitor it 24 hours a day.”

Roy Chetham, chairman of the Huncoat Community Forum, said the speeding often occurs at nighttime.

He said: “Part of the problem is we do not get a fair crack of the whip in terms of police resources. It is very difficult. They have priorities and this may be a low one.

“People fear that there may be a more serious accident. There has been a call for roundabouts or traffic lights. People have been airing these views at the community forum.”

Cllr Loraine Cox, county councillor for Accrington North, said when she was campaigning for election in May this was an issue that kept coming up.

“There was a big concern from quite a lot of residents about the speed of traffic and the accidents that have been happening,” she said.

“We can’t initiate a speed change, that is down to the police, but it is now about building a case up and we are talking about getting an action group together.”

In a letter sent to Cllr Cox, a spokeswoman for Lancashire County Council’s highways said most drivers respected the 40mph limit and the injury collision record was below average of other A class roads.

At the Huncoat Community Forum, John Fillis, the county council’s shadow member for highways, said he would also look into whether better road markings were needed.