A SAFETY study to find the best way of stopping broken-down lorries from blocking one of the county's steepest roads has been announced.

Police figures show that, on average, there is an incident every other day involving a goods vehicle on the A170 at Sutton Bank, near Thirsk, which has a 1:4 gradient.

The Freight Quality Partnership (FQP) has been set up to carry out the study and find solutions to the problem.

Partnership members include the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Police.

Concerns have been growing for years about the level of incidents on Sutton Bank involving heavy goods vehicle.

Most breakdowns require the road to be closed until the vehicle is removed because of its narrowness and the length of the steep gradient.

This causes major delays on what is the key link road to the North York Moors and east coast.

The Freight Transport Association and Road Haulage Association have welcomed news of the study. They said one of the first steps would be to make goods vehicle operators aware of the problem and, while there is no weight restriction on the route, advise them to avoid Sutton Bank whenever possible.

Malcolm Bingham, Freight Transport Association regional policy manager, said: "It is imperative that all parties work together in order to reduce the number of incidents involving goods vehicles, such as breakdowns and diesel spills.

"The Freight Transport Association and its members are keen to reduce traffic delays wherever possible on the county's roads, so we aim to look at a range of solutions including improved signage, and information together with better management of incidents on the roads."

Road Haulage Association area manager, Margaret Edmunds said: "Sutton Bank is on a very important route for freight, serving a large agricultural area, as well as other customers in industry and the leisure sector, so reducing the number of delays is a high priority.

"We welcome the spirit of improved co-operation that is resulting in the new approach to this on-going problem.