AFTER taking his new broom to the gridlocked eastern end of the M65, recently-appointed Highways Agency boss Kevin Lasbury now brushes off the road signs that help to make the notorious Grane Road between Haslingden and Blackburn the most dangerous in Lancashire.

He is removing the exit signs on the A56 Haslingden by-pass that say "Blackburn South" and those on the M65 at Guide saying "Haslingden" which have since the extension of the East Lancashire motorway encouraged excess traffic - much of it heavy goods vehicles - to take short cuts on the moorland Grane route.

Until the M65's extension, this winding rural road - one particularly prone to snow and ice hazards in winter - was classed as a B-road and despite its new designation as an A-road, it remains a narrow country road unfit for heavy traffic and juggernauts, as its appalling accident record shows.

Discouraging this excess traffic is a start.

Banning it - by applying a weight limit that would exclude HGVs - would be an even better safety move.

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