Quernmore Parish Council near Lancaster has backed pleas for the 60mph limit on their main street to be slashed. Fed-up villagers say they are forced to dice with death as motorists and motorcylists "tear" through their two main routes.

Now with police backing, they hope to persuade Lancashire County Council highways chiefs to support their campaign and slap a speed ban on the area.

Teacher and Lancaster councillor Stuart Langhorn said district and parish councils, as well as police, supported calls for a 30mph speed limit, but added that there was disagreement about where the limit should begin and end.

A report being presented to the Lancaster Lancashire Local committee next week details the points at which the reduction should be imposed either end of the main village crossroads.

Local police wanted to see the proposed limit extended further than originally planned, and although the county council is suggesting a compromise, villagers say it does not go far enough.

Coun Langhorn said: "County appears to be saying the extension doesn't meet national guidance."

Fellow local councillor Joyce Pritchard said: "National guidance has put the spanner in the works, because there are not many houses along the road."

One villager, retired farmer Marsland Pye, said motorcyclists tearing through the village were a particular problem.

He said: "The problem got so bad we stopped using our garage because we had to back into the road. It wasn't worth the risk."

The Lancashire Local meeting will also hear that some residents and the parish council want the 60mph limit reduced to 40mph before hitting the proposed new 30mph area.

For more on this story see Friday's Lancashire Evening Post.

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