A COMPROMISE aimed at improving road safety in a North Yorkshire village will be tabled for the first time at a meeting next week.

Residents at Skeeby, near Richmond, have been pressing for action to reduce the speed of traffic passing through on the A6108 for some time.

There was delight last year when North Yorkshire County Council confirmed that the village was to benefit from one of the most comprehensive packages ever seen in the county.

However, original enthusiasm for a Gateway scheme was diluted when the full details emerged.

At a public meeting in January, County Hall officials were left in no doubt the village wanted some of the solutions deleted from the project.

A reduction of the speed limit from 40mph to 30 was still welcome, as were new signs and road markings.

However, speed humps and a new priority system on the bridge over Skeeby Back were not.

Highways chiefs have now re-examined the proposals and a new package is submitted when the county council's Richmondshire Area Committee meets at the Scorton Institute on Monday.

But the project still includes giving traffic leaving the village priority on the bridge, although signs warning of on-coming vehicles in the middle of the road have been removed from the scheme.

Concern over the noise made by traffic travelling over speed humps is also acknowledged - but they, too, remain part of the project, albeit to a lesser extent.

The report submitted on Monday points out that 85 per cent of the traffic passing through Skeeby is travelling at between 36mph and 49mph and it is thought that new signs alone will not be enough to bring drivers down to 30mph and below.

"Engineering measures are required to substantially reduce vehicle speeds, and the maintenance of the lowered speeds is entirely reliant and a frequent and consistent spacing of these types of features," says the report.

Councillors will be told, that in the view of officials, the revised package is "a realistic compromise".

If they agree, it will be introduced within the year, although noise and vibration surveys will then be carried out, with research into the impact the project has had on traffic following after 12 months.