RESIDENTS claim police have not been supportive of a ban on heavy goods vehicles along a village lane.

RESIDENTS claim police have not been supportive of a ban on heavy goods vehicles along a village lane.

Penn parish councillors and residents in Penn Street, near Amersham, are celebrating the news that lorries will no longer be allowed to trundle past their homes and school.

But police believe there is no justification for it and warned that enforcing the ban would be low priority.

Parish councillor Maureen Seymour, a governor at Curzon C of E Combined School in the road, has been campaigning for the ban for the past four years.

She said: 'This is amazing. We were instrumental in getting signs put up there last year to direct HGVs on another route, but we never thought we would get the ban so we are really pleased.

'We believe it was becoming dangerous for children at the school and we had met with complaints from residents about the erosion the vehicles were causing.

'The police have not been terribly supportive and I know they have made objections on the basis they could not police the ban properly.'

Although county councillors supported the ban at a meeting of the highways and public transport sub-committee last Thursday, police voiced their objections.

Sergeant Peter Smith, head of traffic management for Thames Valley Police, told the Free Press: 'I do recognise the public's desire to have the ban but they need to know what to expect in terms of supervision.

'We could see no real justification for the ban and there are problems with enforcing it because some vehicles will be exempt. People will still want to shift their furniture and Bill the Baker will still need his lorry.'

The current ban will cost £3,000 to implement and would mean a prohibition of vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes and over.