Residents of a north Herts housing estate are calling for traffic calming measures to slow traffic and improve road safety.

An online petition, launched last week, highlights several traffic-related concerns relating to particular locations around the Westmill estate, Hitchin.

It focuses on the speed of traffic on Westmill Road and Mattocke Road, as well as the Burford Way, Swinburne Avenue, Moss Way, and Redhill Road circuit.

It highlights the lack of a pedestrian crossing on Redhill Road, and parking issues around Oughton Primary School, the Redhill Road shops and around the new John Barker Place developments.

And it calls for the county council to consider a range of measures, that they say could include 20mph speed limits, pedestrian crossings, road narrowing, speed bumps and speed check devices.

It also points to concerns around additional traffic that is expected to be generated from a planned housing development.

"Our primary concern is the safety of our community, especially of the children attending Oughton Primary School," says the petition.

"The expected increase in local traffic due to the planned housing development close to Redhill Road, including construction vehicles, will only exacerbate the existing issues.

"We kindly request that Hertfordshire County Council assess these issues and introduce a traffic calming scheme in the Westmill area to address these concerns."

The petition was launched on September 24 by Cllr Nigel Mason, who represents the Hitchin Oughton ward on North Herts District Council. And in less than a week has been backed by 70 residents.

Cllr Mason says residents have often raised concerns about the speed of traffic in the area and the impact on road safety.

And he hopes the petition will lead to officers at the county council determining the measures that would be best for the area.

"What I want is for Hertfordshire County Council highways to come and work with us and tell us what will work best to slow traffic down and to make Westmill safer," said Cllr Mason.

"It's as simple as that.

"We are not looking to decide what measures there should be – because we want them to tell us what's most likely to work.

"[…] I don't think that's unreasonable – we just want our area to be safe."

The petition – which can be found at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk – will run until November 17.

And commenting on the ongoing petition, a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: "We welcome the views of residents and petitions are a great way to highlight issues to us.

"This petition is open on our website until November 17, and we will provide a formal response once it has closed.

"Under the council's constitution, should the petition attract enough signatures from Hertfordshire residents, it will be considered by the appropriate council committee."

To be considered at a meeting of the council's cabinet or a cabinet panel, the petition would require 250 'signatures'. To be considered by a meeting of the full council, it would require 1000.