Campaign for speed bumps on Blackburn's Mosley Street after 83-year-old almost mowed down by car

CCTV footage from last week shows how an 83-year-old woman was almost mowed down by a speeding car being chased by the police on Mosley Street in Blackburn, while on Wednesday, a residents' car was written off when it was smashed into by another vehicle on the same stretch of road.

Tracey Cassidy who lives in the area said her neighbours are now putting the wheels in motion to campaign for speed bumps or other traffic calming measures, before someone is seriously injured or killed.

She said: "It was my auntie who was almost run over; the police were chasing a car and they saw what happened and stopped.

"People are having to walk in the road at some points because of cars parked on the pavement and if cars don't slow down someone is going to get killed.

"The street lights went out on this road before Christmas and they've never been put back on. It's pitch black at night which makes it even more dangerous when cars are racing down here.

"And the new builds are going to have car ports which means owners will have to reverse or drive right onto Mosley Street to leave their homes, and with the speeds people go at I wouldn't be surprised if there was a serious accident."

Mrs Cassidy said the problems have been increasing over a number of years, with numerous cars being damaged in the process.

On Wednesday, the driver and passenger of a vehicle ran from the scene of a crash after ploughing their vehicle into Christine Thompson's car, which was parked outside her house.

Mrs Thompson, who has lived on Mosley Street for more than 20 years and has had four cars written off in that time, said she's sick to death of the speeding, which is only getting worse.

She said: "The speeding has become a lot worse since they closed off Mosley Walk. Drivers now use this street as a cut-through to get to Bolton Road.

"It's only 20mph but no-one does it. They didn't even stick to it when it was 30mph.

"I am sick to death of it. They don't take any notice at all and they come down here at all hours of the day and night and just ignore the speed limit.

"They turn the corner and put their foot down. I've had four cars written off because of it.

"I will definitely be involved in any campaign to reduce the speeding and would like to see the council put speed bumps in place.

"The police used to check on this area but they're never here now. We feel we've been forgotten about."

Regeneration boss at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Cllr Phil Riley said there's a limit to the number of speed bumps the council can put in place in the borough's streets as the number of requests for traffic calming measures is endless.

Cllr Riley said: "During lockdown and the following weeks there's obviously been an increase in reckless driving but we can't put traffic calming measures in every street in the borough.

"We will obviously listen to any concerns and see what actions we can take."