A CAMPAIGN to reduce the speed limit on a stretch of road in Moore has been knocked back by councillors.

An online petition with 127 signatures was submitted to Halton Council calling on transport chiefs to reduce the limit from 40mph to 30mph along a section of Runcorn Road.

The petition was started by local resident Mara Rastall and claimed the stretch of road between Moore Village and Sandymoor often moved into a single lane due to onstreet parking, with narrow paths that some locals felt meant 40mph limits were too dangerous.

But at recent meeting of the council’s Environment and Urban Renewal Policy Performance Board, members accepted officers’ recommendations that the speed limit be kept as it was.

A council spokeswoman said the board had considered the advice of the authority’s traffic engineer, the results of traffic surveys, accident records, and also the views of the police before making their decision.

She said: "The Department for Transport’s regulations does not allow for 30mph repeater signs on roads with a system of street lighting.

"With this in mind, reducing the speed limit of this 40mph section would require the removal of the existing 30mph signs and road markings, leaving no signage in place to order drivers to slow down as they enter the more urbanised section.

"Indeed, removing this short section of 40mph road may well result in higher speeds in the existing 30 zone, which is a concern given the close proximity of Moore Primary School."

She said that the board had made a request to Cheshire Police to undertake speed enforcement in the area, adding: "On balance, there was no evidence to support the perception that a change in speed limit would enhance road safety in this location."