ANOTHER awful accident on the notorious Grane Road between Blackburn and Haslingden brings renewed calls for action.

This time, frightened residentswant the speed limit outside their homes cut from 50 mph to 30 mph.

As yet it is unclear whether speed was a factor in this latest incident. But one thing is not in doubt -- that more has to be done about this danger road.

For though the safety measures have halved the accident rate in the past three years and cut the death toll to zero, the Grane Road is still a major menace.

Extension of the 30 mph limit and speed cameras may help. But the key element of the road's danger remains that of its transformation in recent years into a short cut to and from the M65 at Blackburn and the consequent mixing of crawling trucks and frustrated car drivers on a road completely unsuitable for heavy traffic.

Yet the Grane Road's rat-run role and its risks could be reduced in an instant if access to it at Haslingden was stopped and traffic made to take the safer, dual-carriageway route to and from the M65. It is a move that is now glaringly overdue.

Hurrah for common sense! Popular Puccino's caf in Blackburn is spared by councillors after clashing with much-holed planning policy and owner Ian Finch's livelihood is saved. The only pity is, it took a year for sense to dawn.