HUNDREDS of residents in a village next to a dual-carriageway are calling for safety improvements to be made to the road before somebody is killed.

Councillors and residents in the village of Lazenby, near Eston, have been calling for a 50mph limit and a signal-controlled junction with a pedestrian crossing on the A174 outside their village for a number of years.

But police and an independent consultancy group said lowering the speed limit would increase accidents.

The consultancy group, Faber Maunsell, has also recommended to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council that a £90,000 signal-controlled junction with a pedestrian crossing would create an accident risk.

More than 300 Lazenby residents called for traffic to be slowed down on the A174 in a petition sent in October last year.

Bus company Arriva has also raised concerns about the risk to service 63, which runs between Middlesbrough and Redcar, via Lazenby, because buses have to cross both carriageways of the A174 when leaving the village towards Middlesbrough.

Council officers are recommending a bus-turning facility for the village, but residents, who are concerned it could be built next to a new children's playground, will submit a petition with 227 names against the proposal.

Pat Hart, secretary of a steering group to discuss residents' concerns, said: "There are minor accidents there every week. Hundreds of people have signed petitions calling for action, but it will take fatalities before they listen to us."

Ward Councillor Vincent Smith said: "It is crazy the way the junction is at the moment.

"The speed of some of the vehicles is frightening. Residents are taking their lives into their own hands when they try and get out of the junction, and they have to do a great detour if they want to get across the road to the Eston Hills."

Councillor Eric Empson said: "Safety is the key issue. We are in the business of reducing accidents, not increasing them. The police have told us that this is what would happen."

He said that police have told the council that slowing the traffic from 70mph to 50mph would mean vehicles are closer together.

He also said a 50mph speed limit would be difficult to enforce.

Cabinet members will meet tomorrow to decide whether to accept the recommendations.

Councillors have been recommended to approve:

* Keeping the present layout of the Lazenby junctions with the A174

* Road safety monitoring at the east and west accesses to Lazenby village

* Creating a bus-turning facility in consultation with residents and ward members.