COUNCILLORS campaigning for extra safety measures to be introduced on a road which has already claimed three lives today renewed their appeal and said: "The county council needs to do more."

Members of Rossendale Council want highways chiefs to improve road safety on the Edenfield by-pass before there are more deaths or injuries.

The road was named among the worst 23 in the country in a survey earlier this year .

An 11-year-old boy from Rossendale was killed after receiving serious head injuries in a road accident on the Rawtenstall to Edenfield stretch of the road.

The boy, who was living in a private children's home in the Valley, had been walking with a friend on a footpath which crosses the dual carriageway on March 20 when he was struck by two vehicles.

He is one of three pedestrians to be killed on the notorious, unlit stretch of road which connects Queens' Square roundabout to the lit part of the A682, near Edenfield, in the past the eight years.

Lancashire County Council installed lights and barriers at the end of the three footpaths which cross the four-lane road after a 12-year-old schoolboy from Haslingden died in a nearby spot five years ago.

But repeated calls for a footbridge or underpass or the paths themselves to be closed off have come to nothing.

Now councillors in Rossendale are calling for the county council to do more to make the road safe and ensure there are no more deaths or serious injuries on the road.

At a meeting of the authority, Haslingden councillor George Lee said: "Pressure needs to be put on the county council to take their responsibilities seriously before any more people are injured or seriously injured on the roads of Rossendale."

A study by the AA-led European Road Assessment Programme identified the A682 as the worst road in the county for accidents.

Using accident statistics from 1997 to 1999, each road was given a 'star' rating. Those that got no stars were ranked the worst, with four stars awarded to the safer roads.

The 24-kilometre A682, which runs from Nelson to Long Preston through the Ribble Valley, was one of just 23 awarded no stars and was identified as having a "very high accident rate."

A spokesman from Lancashire County Council said that plans were currrently in progress to make the road safer.

He said: "Lancashire County Council are aware of the need to improve road safety in the area.

"We are currently looking at the options available to us. These address improving visibility, directing people to safer crossing points as well as the wider issue of educating local school pupils against the dangers of crossing the road at any point.

"Where serious accidents have occured, we look into where road safety could be improved as a priority."