POLICE are to be asked to increase their efforts to stop lorry drivers ignoring weight restriction limits near York.

Residents of Dunnington have long been blighted by HGV drivers going through their village, instead of round it, to get to Dunnington Industrial Estate.

There is a 7.5 tonnes weight limit in the village, but many drivers appear to ignore the warning signs.

Responsibility for enforcement lies with the police, and the city council is now to ask officers to step up their action.

At a meeting of City of York Council's city strategy panel, council leader Steve Galloway asked transport boss Ann Reid to write to the local force commander, "to ask him to undertake surveillance and, if necessary, enforcement action in the village, to see what the scale of the problem might be."

As reported in The Press last week, the council has already written to all businesses on the industrial estate, asking them to remind suppliers and drivers about the weight restriction.

A petition launched by local councillor Janet Greenwood attracted 343 signatures from unhappy villagers.

In a report to the council's city strategy panel, traffic engineer Alistair Briggs wrote: "A petition of more than 300 signatures clearly demonstrates that there are local concerns over the use of the village roads by HGVs."

The panel adhered to the officer recommendation, and supported work already being done to improve signage.

At the same meeting of the panel, councillors agreed to ask officers to reconsider safety measures around Mill Lane, Westfield Lane and The Village in Wigginton.

A petition calling for traffic calming measures in the area, and specifically a safe crossing point near the junction of Westfield Lane, was signed by 222 residents.

The crossing has been considered by council officials before, in 2001 and 2003, and a 20mph "school zone" was introduced outside the local primary school in 2002.

Councillors also agreed to ask councillors to prepare a further report on access and parking issues in narrow streets across the city.

Residents of Langholme Drive, Acomb, had signed a petition calling for improvements to their road, amid concerns that bin lorries and ambulances were unable to access properties.

Council leader Steve Galloway said many pre-war estates in the city suffered from similar problems, but suggested some residents could help ease the problem themselves, by parking in driveways instead of verges.