Preston motorway link road's speed limit to stay at 50mph

Edith Rigby Way links the A583 Blackpool Road and Riversway with Junction 2 on the M55

The speed limit of a new motorway link road in Lancashire will remain at 50mph (80km/h) after faster options were deemed too dangerous.

Lancashire County Council has decided to make the arrangement permanent on the Preston Western Distributor Road.

A temporary traffic order had set the top speed along Edith Rigby Way since it opened in early July.

Initially it was proposed as a 70mph link between the A583 at Riversway, alongside a new junction on the M55.

Once the two-and-half mile stretch started carrying traffic - after four years of construction work - it emerged a lower limit of 50mph had been imposed.

County hall bosses lowered the limit over safety concerns because of the volume of new housing in the area.

The temporary order meant that traffic enforcement by police speed camera vans could be carried out since day one of the new road's operation.

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands no such enforcement activity took place.

The permanent arrangement means the cameras can still be deployed.