PEOPLE say the reduced speed limit on the main road through the village of Holt Fleet, near Worcester, has done nothing to slow traffic down.

Paul and Kelly Lyons, whose home is beside the A4133, say the introduction of a 40mph speed limit in March last year did little or nothing to reduce the speed of cars, lorries and motorcycles.

They say articulated lorries as tall as their house try to pass on the narrow road, and they frequently hear blaring horns, screeching brakes and shouting as people try to cross the busy road with prams, buggies and small children.

Mr and Mrs Lyons have repeatedly asked for speed monitoring and enforcement on the road.

"We cannot believe Holt Fleet bridge can continue to take the volume and weight of vehicles now passing over it.

"We are sick and tired of accidents and this road being used as a race track by both cars and lorries," they said in a letter to Ombersley and Doverdale Parish Council in April.

Parish council clerk Judith Smart said councillors supported the call for speed monitoring. She said: "The council had hoped for a 30mph limit through Holt Fleet, but it was decided that would not be enforceable.

"There is an awful lot of traffic over that bridge, especially since Droitwich expanded its industrial parks."

Jason Sekhon, of the Spar shop in Holt Fleet, said he did not think the speed limit was clearly defined.

"You can't make sense of it. The signs are up in Ombersley, and they don't think it applies to the whole of the road. We get big lorries speeding down here," he said.

However, Sally Everest, who is manager of Wychavon Highways Partnership, said monitoring had shown that reducing the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph had been

effective.

"It brought speeds down by an average of eigh mph," she said. "This is a major road and there is no weight limit on the bridge. It is one of the main routes across the river, and you would expect it to take a certain percentage of heavy goods vehicles."