RESIDENTS in Westhoughton have called for speed humps on their estate to avoid a tragedy.

Parents on The Pungle have made a plea to councillors for traffic calming measures because they say traffic dangers are increasing.

They say children playing in the streets of the estate are at serious risk of injury.

Their call for action follows an incident last weekend where a car crashed into the wall of a house.

Mother-of-two Andrea Watkinson, whose house was damaged in the incident, said: "After what happened I won't let my kids of three and 10 play out and that's not fair on them. The incident happened at about 4pm on Saturday when all the kids were in the streets.

"If my children had been in the front garden they could have been killed.

Westhoughton town councillor Jim Gilfillan, also a resident of the estate, says he has written to the council requesting swift action.

"The incident at the weekend is a cause for concern," he said. "That was a one-off but we do see some people using the estate in an inappropriate way.

"It's an estate with a lot of young children and the main road through the estate has a lot of bends. It just takes someone to come down a bit too fast and we will have a serious accident."