VILLAGERS are appealing to councillors to put a weight restriction on the A368 to stop lorries trundling through their quiet streets. Parishioners want to cut down the amount of lorries travelling through rural villages and a decision on whether a weight

VILLAGERS are appealing to councillors to put a weight restriction on the A368 to stop lorries trundling through their quiet streets.Parishioners want to cut down the amount of lorries travelling through rural villages and a decision on whether a weight restriction will be imposed is due to be made later this month.If it is agreed the restriction would run from Churchill to Blagdon to stop lorries cutting through surrounding villages such as Banwell, Winscombe and Shipham.Richard Tolmie, vice chairman of Banwell Parish Council, said: "Anything will help. Of course we'd like to see lorries not coming through at all but we accept in the real world that's not going to happen. Any restriction they put on will help."Churchill Parish Council also agrees something needs to be done and is pushing for a ban on lorries cutting through the village.North Somerset councillor John Crockford-Hawley, executive member for strategic planning and transport, said: "It's not as simple to say we can exclude all heavy goods vehicles. The major problem is differentiating between those heavy vehicles with a legitimate right to be there and those without."Surveys have shown that the vast majority of heavy vehicles have a legitimate reason to be there because they are from the villages or delivering in the area."Cllr Crockford-Hawley said the decision on whether or not to impose a weight limit will be difficult as it will not solve the problem completely and there would be difficulty policing it.He said: "I've come to the conclusion that if the problem could be easily solved it would have been years ago."Cllr Crockford-Hawley is meeting with interested parties from the Road Hauliers Association and local councillors on Thursday and is due to make a decision in the next few weeks.