VILLAGERS are warning that loose debris falling from ‘speeding’ lorries making their way to a controversial quarry could seriously injure or even kill someone.

Residents say trucks using Bradshaw Road to get to and from Harwood quarry landfill site are shedding rocks and stones as the material is not secured properly.

The problem is said to be worst between the India Gate and Bradshaw Gate junctions before the more built up area of Harwood.

Pensioner Roy Adams, who lives on Bradshaw Road, picked up the ‘big clumps of rock’ shed by a wagon near his house to demonstrate the problem.

He said: “I picked some up, they covered the pavement, if they had hit someone walking up it would’ve killed them, no problem.

“If my wife had been walking up with the grand-kids they would’ve been killed, there’s no doubt about it.”

He continued: “The wagons come past, they have a sheet over, but only at the top, not covering the side. Anything that can fall off will fall off.It could hit other vehicles parked up on Bradshaw Road or worse still walkers and joggers.

"The pavement is in a terrible state, the kerbs level with the road, it’s disgusting, but the council’s not bothered about wagons flying up and down the road.”

He added that the stones that had come off the truck were about ‘six inches square’ and large enough to badly hurt someone.

Mr Adams, aged 71, said: “If you see the size of one of those rocks – if one of them hits you coming off the back of a wagon doing 50 mph it’s going to do a lot of damage.”

The stretch of road by Mr Adams’ house is a 40 mph zone, but he said that lorry drivers take no notice of the speed limit.

“The drivers look at you like you’re stupid. You put your hand up to say it’s 40mph and they either throw gestures of ignore you completely.”

“I would like to see some form of traffic calming measures, like static speed cameras.”

Bradshaw ward councillor, Mudasir Dean, agreed there was a serious problem along the stretch of road.

He said: “There are a lot of dog owners, a lot of people that walk with children in prams, a lot of people who jog there. And there are a lot of areas where cars are at the side of the road and they could get damaged.

“The worst case scenario is that somebody could be killed by it. It’s the responsibility of the wagon companies to make sure there are drivers know what to do and realise what the could face it god forbid there’s an accident there."

Cllr Dean continued: “One of the issues is the speed these wagons plough down Bradshaw Road, that last part of the journey, before they get into the built up area further down in Harwood, where naturally wagons tend to slow down.”

Cllr Dean also called for new laws to force firms to ensure sure loads are properly secured to vehicles.

He said: “A couple of years ago we did stress we wanted the wagons to be netted both on the way in and on the way out, but it’s something the quarry itself didn’t agree to, we couldn’t implement it without agreement.

“Maybe it’s something we need to look at nationally and look at legislation that says when lorries when carry equipment should have to be netted down."

“It’s not a great expense but it could save us from having a serious accident somewhere.”

Booth Ventures is the company responsible for operating the Brookfold Lane site.

Managing director Matthew Booth told The Bolton News last week that vehicles using the Brookfold Lane site receive regular safety feedback from the firms management team.