SEVEN hundred people who signed a petition to ask for speed cameras to be installed on a stretch of a road in York are set to see their hopes dashed.

Council chiefs are to reject calls for the cameras to be installed between Tang Hall Lane and Field Lane, but have told residents there will be "increased speed enforcement" on the streets.

About 700 people from Osbaldwick and Badger Hill petitioned the council about the cameras to reduce road danger.

Over the past three years, there have been 20 accidents on, or between, the two junctions. Residents wrote to City of York Council arguing that motorists frequently travelled at up to 60mph on the road - which has a 30mph speed limit.

Those who signed the petition said they did not want "impediments" to restrict the road speed but wanted the current speed limit enforced and said only speed cameras could "promote road safety" in Hull Road.

But officers advising councillors attending a planning and transport advisory meeting next week have ruled out the camera option.

They say the council, North Yorkshire Police, the Highways Agency and other interested groups are not part of a Safety Camera Partnership and there are no proposals to review that situation.

A report to councillors adds: "Even if a Safety Camera Partnership did exist, this section of Hull Road would not meet the Government criteria for fixed safety camera sites, which is four killed or seriously injured casualties in a three-year period."

It concludes that cameras are "not an option" and says the authority will work with the police and Safer York Partnership to target the area with "increased speed enforcement".

"Monitoring of the speeding problem will ensure that this speed enforcement is both evidence based and targeted at those most likely to offend," it says.

That has disappointed ward councillor David Wilde, who presented the petition to council bosses. He said although speed cameras were a best option, he hoped to see a more "imaginative response" from the authority.

"I am disappointed in what is being put forward," he said. "I hoped they would have come forward with other ways of sorting it out if fixed cameras were incompatible.

"There could have been new signage for the area or hand-held cameras. I wanted a little bit of imagination. There is a small loophole in that we might get something done, but it is just a bit lacklustre. I will continue to press this issue for residents."

Updated: 10:16 Monday, September 05, 2005