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Landaus Lights ban stays
A BAN on landaus using Blackpool Promenade on Saturday nights during the Illuminations is to continue after a request for it to be lifted fell on deaf ears.
Owners of the horse-drawn carriages had asked for a change of heart to help them secure more trade during the recession.
But the council says Illuminations traffic is too busy on a Saturday night to allow the landaus to use the Prom.
In a letter to the council, Alison Metcalf of the Blackpool Landau Owners Association (pictured left), says: "There is no reasonable safety excuse to support this prohibition.
"The landaus travel at the speed of the slow moving traffic, consequently will not cause any disruption. The landaus have an excellent safety record, compared to some other forms of transport in the town.
"Our members are suffering from the recession along with everyone else. There is less money about, coupled with this comes rising fuel prices which have hit blacksmiths etc causing costs to rise.
"While bad harvests have caused the hay and straw prices to rocket."
The association also warns building work and road closures on the Promenade have hit trade.
Mrs Metcalf says: "Being able to use the Prom on a Saturday would at least allow us to rescue a bad week.
"Many visitors who are only here for the day do not understand why they cannot see the Illuminations in a landau on Saturday nights."
The prohibition order has been in place for a number of years.
A report to Blackpool Council's executive says: "The volume of traffic experienced along the Promenade during the Illuminations on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and also during the half term week is considerable.
"However, Saturdays are the peak times. The Promenade now has many crossings where the carriageway has been reduced in width.
"The proposed order does not prevent operation on Friday, Sundays or at half term (other than Saturdays) and the officer view is that this is the maximum concession that is acceptable on traffic management and road safety grounds at the present time.
"If the landaus were allowed to operate on the Saturdays then consideration would have to be given for additional traffic management to ensure there was only one lane of traffic in either direction and that the landaus remain within the lane of traffic.
"This would cause a massive backlog of traffic as we cannot compromise public safety for other road users on the Promenade during these busy times."
A recommendation to continue the ban on landaus using the Promenade on Saturday nights during the Illuminations has been agreed.
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Weather for Blackpool
Sunday 27 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
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