A LEADING councillor has defended Bolton Council’s decision not to put speed bumps on a ‘dangerous’ residential road in Farnworth, despite two fatal accidents.

Council officers decided there wasn’t enough evidence to put in speed bumps or a camera on Frederick Street — and there isn’t enough money in the council coffers to spend on safety measures.

Residents on the road had presented a petition of 89 signatures to the authority, arguing the 30mph stretch was being used as a race track.

In July motorcyclist Michael Mok, aged 42, died on the street after he lost control of his bike and crashed into a tree.

An inquest in December found he suffered head, chest and neck injuries while performing a ‘wheelie’, while a witness told the court he had been travelling between 30mph and 40mph.

Cllr Nick Peel, the cabinet member in charge of environmental services at Bolton Council, said with scant resources the council needed to prioritise spending money where there is real need.

He said: “When there is an accident there is a police report into how it came about, there are many factors that cause accidents and it is not always excessive speed.

“The council has committed itself to 20mph across the borough, which wouldn’t necessarily mean traffic calming features – it would just been a speed reduction across a large area.

“We are not, therefore, looking at individual streets in isolation, we plan to do large areas at a time to save costs. There are statutory consultations that have to be done that cost tens of thousands of pounds each time.

“We can’t commit scarce resources to doing one particular road where the evidence doesn’t back it up.”