Teachers and residents living in Kirklees have appealed to Bradford Council to help stop speeding cars and lorries using their street.

Following pressure from people living and working in Station Lane, Birkenshaw, Kirklees Council has called for a ban on trucks using the street as a rat-run to avoid queuing traffic in Tong Street.

But the top of the road falls within Bradford's boundary and Kirklees is powerless to introduce restrictions.

Councillor Austin Calvert (Lab, Birstall and Birkenshaw) said traffic travelling into Bradford used the narrow street to avoid a bottleneck outside Yorkshire Martyrs School.

He said: "People are very concerned but there's very little we in Kirklees can do.

"We have written to Bradford Council to ask if they can stop the lorries.

"People are worried if the Princes depot in Toftshaw Lane goes ahead things will get even worse.

"The depot will have a big impact but again we're like outsiders looking in."

Kirklees Council conducted a survey of lorries using the street at the request of residents earlier this year.

And police have attempted to curb the number of speeding drivers by setting up speed traps.

Headteacher of Birkenshaw First and Nursery School Sue Heyhoe said the school had contacted local companies to ask drivers not to use the street when the school was open.

But she said many lorries still use the road and it is especially dangerous when parents drop off and collect their children.

She said: "Not everyone knows about our agreement and the road is getting busier."

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said the authority had formally asked Bradford to introduce a weight limit on the street at the request of its highways committee.

And she added the street had been put on the Council's environmental traffic calming list - so traffic calming could be considered in the future.

A spokesman for Bradford Council's highways department said: "We are aware of the issues raised by Kirklees Council regarding HGVs along Station Lane and Cross Lane.

"There is currently a planning application to develop a site at the eastern end of Cross Lane, near the Drighlington bypass, which is to be the subject of a public inquiry beginning on May 18.

"If planning permission were granted the Council would be asking John Prescott to ban heavy lorries from Cross Lane and Station Lane, except for access vehicles."

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