RESIDENTS in Lostock have strongly urged the parish council to draw a line under the debate over the A556 'Lostock Gap' and move on to more pressing matters.

They turned out in force at last week's parish council meeting on Wednesday night to object to any suggestions of re-opening the gap to introduce a right hand turn into Birches Lane.

The demonstration came after weeks of debate and comment on the Guardian's letters page.

In an often-heated debate, residents said a referendum held five years ago should have put the matter to bed, while others called for speed limit reductions.

The argument seems to hinge on a public vote held in 1998, which saw residents voting in favour of closure.

Parish councillor David Rouse and resident Dave Taylor have both claimed the vote did not include a right turn option - but angry residents took their chance last week to call for the 1998 vote to be adhered to.

Resident John Edwards said: "We thought that the arguments concerning the junction were done with. We are appalled that the parish council has got nothing better to do than to rake up old ground.

"We are fed up to the back teeth with discussions about this junction. It makes you look stupid and it makes us look stupid because it looks like we cannot make up our own minds about what we want. For God's sake move on."

Another resident said: "This should have had a line drawn under it in 1998 after the two fatalities. We must move on."

Meanwhile, Mr Taylor claimed that any cars trying to join the A556 from the Birches Lane junctions face traffic travelling at up to 90mph, which would lead to a "monumental accident" and called for a new speed limit to be introduced on the bypass.

Borough Councillors Ann McEllin and Michael Fellows both stated that their efforts to get speed reductions had been raised at county council level.

A review of speed limits has resulted in a number of villages being identified for 30mph limits, but the costs of changing them all was in the millions, so a rolling programme had been introduced that had yet to address the issues in Lostock.

Clr McEllin, who chaired the 1998 meeting, disputed claims that a right turn was not offered and the matter was eventually brought to a head when the parish council agreed to check the minutes of the original vote for the exact options that were put forward.

jsawyer@guardiangrp.co.uk