MORE people could be killed or injured because of plans to reorganise road safety watchdogs, a councillor says.

Coun George Dunning, leader of the opposition Labour group on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said a council plan to scrap area road safety committees would be a disaster. The committees monitor highway safety issues in their area.

"If it is allowed to happen it could mean more deaths and injuries on our roads," Coun Dunning said. "This shows utter arrogance on the part of the ruling coalition. Ever heavier traffic means that road safety worries are mounting, not diminishing, and these local committees provided the ideal local forum where local fears could be discussed in detail.

"They often had a degree of local knowledge that could help professional highway engineers, and they mean that many small issues could be resolved quickly and speedily."

He urged councillors of all political persuasions to press for the rejection of this 'ill-thought out and utterly arrogant' proposal.

Coun Glynn Nightingale, the council's member for corporate resources, hit back at Coun Dunning's claims.

He said: "To suggest that this council under any administration would sanction any action that could undermine our aims of continuous road safety improvement is beyond belief."

He said the proposal was an amalgamation of all the area committees into one sub-committee of the development scrutiny committee, allowing them to become a cohesive force with real access to decision-making.

Coun Nightingale said: "We acknowledge the vast wealth of experience among the people who give up their free time to serve on all these committees and, contrary to what the leader of the Labour group would like to claim, we will do everything we can to retain that knowledge for the benefit of the community. What we must start to achieve is greater accountability and a better engagement with the community, making our decision making process more representative."

Labour said it was a cost-saving move.