A group of residents have started petitioning neighbours and businesses along their street in a bid to gain support for a reduction in the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph.

The residents in Blyburgate in Beccles are the latest in the town to set up a residents’ association to provide a case for the move, and has been led by John Bradley along with neighbours Joan Wright and David Bye.

Mr Bradley said: “I have had guttering knocked down by traffic and there have been several near misses in the street and it’s only a matter of time before someone is hit.

“My biggest concern is children and other pedestrians who use the road - vehicles all the time come up on the pavement and they don’t see the people coming out of the side streets until they pop their head around the corner.”

Traffic survey data for the street, gathered earlier this year, makes Blyburgate potentially eligible for the measure,

In order for a location to be considered for a 20mph limit or zone, two out of three criteria must be met. These are that the current mean speeds are at or below 24 mph, there is a depth of residential development and evidence of pedestrian and cyclist movements within the area and there is a record of injury accidents in the area within the last five years.

The residents’ association will this month be visiting homes and business in the street to gauge opinions for the proposed 20mph limit and the results will be presented to the county council.

Mrs Wright said: “One of the main problems here is the traffic coming up on the pavement to get past each other. It’s really dangerous for people in wheelchairs or with prams.

“Let’s face it Beccles was not built for the type of traffic we get now, the pavements are narrow, the roads are narrow.”

The move by the Blyburgate residents comes as Suffolk county councillor for Beccles Chris Punt said work would get under way at the end of this month on the signage for the already agreed Northgate and surrounding area 20mph zone and, depending on the success in bringing down speeds, decisions will be made on other streets in the town.

He said: “I want to have this 20mph zone running for six months then I’m going to do some more speed data checks to see if it has been effective or not, and see what the difference in speed is.

“If it is effective I will then move on to the next area. If we find it is making no difference to speed at all then I will have to reconsider because every time I do one of these it costs money and we have a limited budget which could be used elsewhere.”

If you would like more information about the Blyburgate Residents’ Group contact jbradley_282@fsmail.net

Do you support 20mph zones? Email lynn.crombie@archant.co.uk or call 01502 712060.