SAFETY campaigners yesterday pledged to continue their fight for a bypass to divert traffic away from their homes.

People living in Thormanby, near Thirsk, were furious when plans for a £2m bypass were dropped by North Yorkshire County Council because of fears that funding would not be forthcoming.

There have been four deaths and countless other accidents in recent years on the A19 road that runs through the community.

Plans to ease the villagers' worries were shelved last month, as the county council's executive gave the provisional go-ahead for applications to be made to central Government to fund four other bypass schemes.

Those bids are expected to be officially ratified at a full council meeting next week, but Thormanby residents are pinning their hopes on a last-minute change of heart.

The authority meets on Wednesday and villagers say they would be particularly irate if plans for a bypass for Shipton-by-Beningbrough, near York, were approved.

They are planning to lobby councillors in the hope that Thormanby is added to the list of schemes put forward to central Government.

Campaigner Stephen Suart said: "The road through Shipton is much wider than Thormanby and the traffic problems have been overcome by traffic calming measures.

"There is no solution to the traffic problems in Thormanby, other than a bypass, because of a blind bend on the top of the hill in the village and the close proximity of properties to the road."

He added: "One thing is certain - a really major accident will occur in Thormanby and it is then that a bid to bypass will be submitted.

"But why wait when the cost is little to pay for its prevention, the preservation of the integrity of this small rural community and the increased safety of the 3.5 million motorists - 20 per cent of which are heavy goods vehicles - passing through every year?"

The county council said that because of the limited funding available nationally from the Government, it wanted to put forward projects that were most likely to be looked on favourably.