PLANS to block off a "rat run" country lane in Knuzden have moved a step forward.

Legal notices are to be posted in Moss Lane, off Stanhill Road, about proposals to block off the road to vehicles using the route as a short cut to the M65 motorway. Funding for the road safety scheme was announced in April after fed-up residents had campaigned for years for an end to the problem.

They complained that speeding cars and lorries were putting lives at risk and damaging their properties.

Councillor Doug Hayes told a meeting of Oswald-twistle Area Council that the legal notices about the scheme would be posted within the next two weeks and residents would have 28 days to lodge objections.