VISITORS are joining residents in complaining about the number of lorries in Settle town centre.

In a letter addressed to "Settle's newspaper", which naturally was delivered to the Craven Herald, visitor James Erickson from Portland, Oregon in America, voiced his concerns about the safety of pedestrians and motorists using Settle's main thoroughfare, Duke Street, during his six week stay in the town.

And Seana de Carne, from London, wrote a letter to The Royal Oak Hotel, Market Place, where she stayed a night in March.

Mr Erikson wrote: "There is a by-pass nearby for large vehicles to use and I am angered by the fact that my safety is not being considered as these immense monsters barrel down on me at high speed as I try to enjoy the quiet ambience of this lovely historic town.

"Duke Street is extremely narrow and provides just enough space for automobiles but not for these raging speed demons clattering past me. It is not necessary to destroy the people's right to confident safety when an alternative route is provided."

Miss de Carne expressed her dissatisfaction at the noise in her room early in the morning.

"I took it thinking that a bit of road traffic was not so terrible," she said. "However, I did not count on the horrific level of noise coming from lorries around 5am. You must be well aware how awful the level of noise is. It caused my nine year old to wake in terror."

Andrew Fawcett, who is part of the Trucks Out of Settle action group, said that the two visitors' reactions to the traffic situation within the town came as no surprise.

He said: "These complaints are just the tip of an iceberg. I get letters and calls from lots of visitors who say that they love the town but wouldn't return because of the lorry problem and these are the people that matter the most.

"The crucial point about it is that there's a bypass that the trucks could use. Settle has been designated a Renaissance town and my understanding of Renaissance is rebirth but there's no way this can happen with this truck problem."

A spokesperson from Settle and District Chamber of Trade said: "The chamber is completely aware of comments from both tourists and local residents who find the noise and heavy traffic first thing in the morning very disruptive. We are working in conjunction with the Settle Freight Quality Partnership which has active representation from the parish and district councils who represent local views, local hauliers and the quarries.

"A number of proposals to control this noise disruption are to be put before the local councils within the next few weeks."