Father & daughter duo relieved to see speed camera installed on dangerous Lancashire road

Following a long campaign by Oswaldtwistle Conservative County Cllr Peter Britcliffe and his former Hyndburn MP daughter Sara Britcliffe, a new speed camera has finaly been installed at a speeding hotspot on Blackburn Road in Oswaldtwistle

In April, Lancashire County Council pledged to install the device and finally it is in place, with traffic coming from Blackburn towards the township’s West End seeing the limit drop from 50mph to 30.

Cllr Britcliffe has previously dubbed Blackburn Road the ‘the most dangerous in the borough’.

His daughter launched a ‘Say No to Speed’ campaign on the road after her election to Parliament in 2019 and found herself repeatedly dealing with householders’ concerns about motorists using the road as a ‘racetrack’ especially at night.

The pair, alongside St Oswalds ward’s Hyndburn borough Cllrs Zak Khan and Marlene Haworth as well as residents have long been calling for safety measures on Blackburn Road to reduce speeding.

As of last year, data on Lancashire County Council’s website suggested there had been 29 incidents on it including a fatality in recent years.

County Cllr Britcliffe said: “I was delighted that this speed camera has now been installed after a successful campaign. I hope this will slow traffic down and increase safety on Blackburn Road.

“I want to thank the local politicians who have worked on this, but above all I want to thank the residents of Oswaldtwistle who have been relentless in supporting this campaign.”

Miss Britcliffe, who lost her Hyndburn seat to Labour’s Sarah Smith in July’s general election, said: “We have been putting pressure on Lancashire County Council for years to install safety measures on Blackburn Road so I am pleased our campaigning has now paid dividends.

“The incidents on the road in recent years have been unacceptable and I truly hope this will now reduce their occurrence. It goes to show what a strong local team can deliver in politics.”