A MEETING tonight will consider if there is more which could be done to stop drivers using a narrow residential road in Richmond as a rat run.

Residents of Quarry Lane claim they have been let down by the local authorities since signs were put up restricting their street to access only.

People employed on the neighbouring Gallowfields trading estate simply ignore them, using Quarry Lane to get to work and back or for lunchtime trips into the town centre.

Richmondshire District Council is also actively hunting more firms interested in bringing new jobs to the area - and residents are worried the problems are only going to get worse.

There has already been an example of what would it be like when roadworks on one of Richmond's busiest roads prompted drivers to try alternative routes through town earlier this year.

Cars, lorries and vans found it difficult to squeeze in and out of the tortuous junction between Quarry Lane and Hurgill Road, which is too narrow for pavements, putting pedestrians at risk.

In consultations carried out so far, residents have suggested barriers are installed, with access to the street limited to those issued with pass cards.

The idea has not yet been discarded, although there are fears that the emergency services could be delayed if they needed to reach an address on Quarry Lane quickly.

However, other possible solutions are in the melting pot when the local authority's environment committee meets this evening. A report concludes there is no "win-win" position which would benefit residents and people who work on the industrial estate.

But among the suggested recommendations to be forwarded to North Yorkshire County Council's highways department is a paragraph which at least accepts the current free-for-all needs addressing.

"The access arrangements for the Gallowfields Trading Estate are not satisfactory and there should be an agreed strategy to secure improvements or new works necessary to provide satisfactory access," wrote Richmondshire District Council planning chief, Patrick Earle.

However, barriers are by no means a foregone conclusion; other suggestions include, speed humps, chicanes, or a one-way traffic system.