PEOPLE living in part of Middlesbrough are welcoming plans to make their streets safer.

A £750,000 "home zone" scheme to redesign the layout of five streets in the town's Gresham area means their days of being used as a "rat run" for motorists are numbered.

Chicanes of block paving on both sides of the streets are intended to deter motorists from entering Warwick Street, Aire Street, Costa Street, Harford Street and Essex Street.

Engineer Dave Carter, group leader in road safety with Middlesbrough Council, said: "It's turning the streets over to the residents who live in them, giving them a safer and better environment.

"The idea is to break up the long, straight appearance of the streets for a meandering route through, to discourage through traffic, to make people stop and think about driving down the road.''

He said: "It is one of the densest areas we have, in a large surrounding area of typical terraced housing.

"You tend to get accidents concentrated in these areas because of the number of people concentrated in them.''

The home zone idea has been imported from Holland. and is the first to be developed in Middlesbrough.

A 20 mph speed limit is to be introduced and enforced in the Gresham area.

Janice Hall, a grandmother who lives in Costa Street, said: "I think it's a good idea. It will be safer for the kids. You daren't let the kids out to play.

"There is only the nearby park where they can play, but you get all sorts of people round there.''

Middlesbrough Council is working with consultants FaberMaunsell on the Government-funded scheme.

Together they have developed layout options reflecting the views and comments of people in the area.

They used sand during on-street mock-ups at the weekend to give residents an idea of how the scheme will look.

A virtual reality model of the completed project has also been prepared by the University of Teesside.

The home zone will include gateway features and artwork to make the safer streets more attractive.

Middlesbrough Council hired a children's entertainer, face painter and brass band for the unveiling, at the weekend, of redesign options for the five streets.