AN MP joined residents campaigning for a lower speed limit through their village and accused a council of ignoring their views.

People at Chester Moor, near Chester-le-Street, are fighting Durham County Council's decision to keep the 70 mph maximum on the A167 dual carriageway.

The Chester Moor Community Group, which has complained to the Local Government Ombudsman about the decision, says people take their life in their hands trying to cross the road.

It wants a 50mph limit so that a pedestrian crossing can be installed and claims the council upheld the 70mph despite its own guidelines.

North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones joined villagers holding placards urging drivers to slow down through the village.

"You have old people from the Aged Miners Bungalows trying to get across the road to the bus stop and there is a motorway speed limit,'' he said.

"I have not heard a good enough reason from the council why it shouldn't be a 50mph limit other than the fact the officers have set their mind on it and won't budge."

Civil servant Peter Lawson, chairman of the group, said: "70mph might be the right speed for cars but it isn't for people trying to cross the road.

"At busy times, people can be standing for a quarter of an hour or longer to wait for a gap in the traffic to get across.''

He added that the group was awaiting the outcome of investigations by the Ombudsman.

The protestors were joined by solicitor and mother-of-two Anne Brown, of Plawsworth, a mile up the road, where people also want a lower limit.

She said that when her sons reached secondary school age she would not allow them to cross the road to reach the bus stop because of the speed of traffic.

A spokesman for the county council said the decision to keep the 70mph limit had been reached after being "looked at carefully and in detail.''

He denied that residents had been ignored and said that council surveys showed a "low'' number of people crossing the road and an average vehicle speed of about 50mph.

He added that there was insufficient development bordering the road or a bad enough accident record on the road.