A MIDDLEWICH man says traffic safety should be made top priority after the Cheshire Partnership revealed it has £19million to spend on improving residents' lives.

Last week the Guardian reported that the partnership, which represents around 60 public, private, voluntary and community groups, met with county and district councils, police and the fire service to sign the county's local Public Service Agreement with the Government.

Eleven areas to benefit from the funding were identified and we asked readers where they thought the money should be spent.

Middlewich resident Martin Wilkinson contacted the Guardian to say he would like to see some of the funds put into road safety.

He said: "Two years ago a group of residents wrote to council traffic planners to request traffic calming measures along Warmingham Lane. Traffic constantly speeds along this road. The council responded by acknowledging the problem and advising that budget permitting it was going to invest in the road in 2004 - this has not happened.

"This route is constantly used by schoolchildren and their parents walking to and from school. The speeding traffic not only makes it a dangerous road but also makes walking to school a less preferable option for parents therefore increasing the traffic.

"The road is busy and also has many parked cars, particularly since Tesco took over the One Stop and turned it into a Tesco Express.

"The car park servicing this area is no longer fit for purpose and cars end up parked anywhere they can on the road."

He added: "Investment is required to slow traffic down from the Warmingham direction where the limit changes from 60 to 30mph and to also raise awareness to all drivers of the risk of speeding along a route that has many children crossing it.

"I hope that some money will be made available to improve this situation as it would improve the daily life of a lot of Middlewich residents and their children."

It is not clear yet how much mid Cheshire towns stand to benefit from the deal, which is why we want to hear readers' views on where money could best be channelled.

Do you agree with Martin or have you got other ideas on how to improve services for children and young people, reduce the fear of crime effectively and what street environments require urgent attention?

All these are areas earmarked for attention in the agreement, with the first initiatives due to start in the coming weeks.

Contact reporter Andrew Simpson on 01606 813622 or email asimpson@guardiangrp.co.uk with your suggestions.