SAFETY campaigners have warned that they may defy a local authority ruling to pull down a sign branding a road "Death Hill".

Residents of Thormanby, near Easingwold, have been campaigning for years to have a bypass built to divert traffic from the A19 away from their village.

However, a sign showing a black coffin, which residents set up by the side of the road last year, has fallen foul of Hambleton District Council - and the authority has told Thormanby Parish Council to remove it or face prosecution.

Resident and leading campaigner, Stephen Suart, said a village meeting would take place on Thursday to discuss the next move.

He said villagers might ignore the council's demands or even place the 7ft sign on a trailer, making it mobile and possibly within planning regulations.

"The sign has helped to slow traffic down. A lot of villagers have said to me that people are seeing the coffin and slowing down," he said.

"We still get the odd vehicle, usually a heavy goods vehicle, coming through at 60 or 70mph, but it has helped."