A MAJOR drive to make a picturesque village safer for pedestrians gained pace over the weekend.

Members of the Holcombe Society were out collecting signatures in support of their three-year-long campaign for traffic calming measures to slow all speeding motorists through Holcombe Village.

Dr Falmia Binns said: "We collected more than a hundred signatures calling for something to be done to slow down speeding motorists."

"Because there have been no fatalities on the road, the police or the council are helpless to do anything."

The Holcombe Society has visited a number of similar villages to see how they deal with the problem of speeding motorists.

"Some villages have narrowed the road, so traffic coming up one side has to give way to traffic on the other side of the road. This could be done in Holcombe Village by widening the footpath round The Shoulder of Mutton pub."

The campaign is also being supported by the village school Emmanuel Holcombe CE Primary, where children have designed posters illustrating the dangers speeding cars pose to pedestrians.

The posters were displayed throughout the village during the weekend.

"A lot of people who signed the petition said they were angry that nothing had been done to stop speeding through the village," concluded Dr Binns.

The petition will be presented to Bury North MP David Chaytor and also to the Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor area board.

Previous requests for speed cameras have been turned down at Ramsbottom and Tottington area boards on the grounds the village does not meet the "criteria" to justify their use.