RESIDENTS' pleas for a reduction in the speed limit on the road outside their homes have been answered.

Durham County Council's highways committee has voted to seek a 40 mph limit on the B6302 between Esh Winning and Ushaw Moor.

People living in Deerness View and Joyce Street, which are between the two villages, have been pressing for many years for the existing 60 mph limit to be reduced.

Until 1969 the road had a 30 mph limit. It was lifted at the request of the parish council.

The average speed of traffic on the road has been put at 45 mph.

Measures including rumble strips, central hatching and 'slow' markings have been installed to warn drivers they are passing homes.

Councillors were told there had been only one recorded personal injury accident next to the houses in the last five years although five others had occurred on other stretches of the road.

A report from officers said the road did not meet the current national criteria for reducing the speed limit. The officials recommended that extra road markings and a coloured surface be laid on the road near the houses, but councillors voted to reduce the limit.

A council spokesman said: "The committee has agreed to a 40 mph limit and it will now have to be advertised and go through the formal consultation process.

"It could be some time before the results of that process are known and a report is brought back to the committee for consideration.''