ROD Duncan became so fed up of drivers knocking over signs he decided to collect them!

Over the past 12 months Rod, with the support of postmaster Geoffrey Parker and other residents, has gathered bus stop signs, roundabout signs, give way signs, village signs and street name signs.

Even the Please Drive Carefully sign has been bashed by a car!

Now Rod, of Station Road, Huncoat, and his exasperated neighbours are demanding action from Hyndburn Council to reduce speeding on the street -- before someone is killed.

Today Hyndburn Council admitted the area was a hotspot for drivers colliding with signs and that there was a problem with speeding. And Huncoat councillor Dave Parkins said: "Rod has collected all these signs to draw attention to the problem."

The issue came to a head at a meeting of the village's area council, when residents recounted dozens of tales of dangerous drivers hitting their cars, of lorries speeding and signs being knocked down.

Rod said: "I have spoken to the council about speeding here many times but their solution was to put up a mini roundabout. That has made the problem worse.

"Now people zoom across that and run into our cars. I tried keeping the signs, which were left in the road, in the hope the council would come along to look at the problem. But they didn't.

"When the mini-roundabout sign was knocked over, I picked it up. Now the kids use it is as a frisbee! We need something doing quickly to tackle the problem, to make people drive more slowly. So much damage has been done, it is only through chance that a person hasn't been injured."

An initial solution to the problem was to reduce traffic to just one lane, forcing it to slow down.

But Geoffrey Parker and his wife Ann, who run Huncoat Post Office, had their car badly damaged by a motorist who lost control on the road.

Geoffrey said: "People are driving too fast. Lorries hurtle through here too. It's a village road where the speed should be slow. We need traffic calming and action taken against speeders."

David Law, from Hyndburn Council, said: "This road is a hotspot with regards to accidents and collisions with signs.

"I was very surprised when this gentleman told me he was keeping the signs. We are doing all we can to improve the roads in Huncoat. Our surveys have shown it is a problem area, with some 15 per cent of drivers driving dangerously over the 30 mph speed limit."