RESIDENTS are demanding action to make a Huddersfield road safer.

People living on Meltham Road between Lockwood and Netherton say it is dangerous.

The residents have no off-road parking and say their cars have been regularly damaged by vandals and a string of accidents.

The latest accident came when a driver hit five parked cars before hitting a car coming the other way.

No-one was seriously injured in the incident, which happened at about 8pm on January 30.

One of the parked vehicles was a Motability car belonging to a multiple sclerosis sufferer. It has been badly damaged several times on the road.

The road has a 30mph limit, but residents say drivers ignore it.

They want traffic-calming measures or speed cameras to be introduced.

But Government rules mean that a certain number of deaths or serious injuries must occur on the road before cameras can be put up.

There has been one recent death on Meltham Road.

Huddersfield University student Antoni Owczarek, 22, was killed in May, 2003, when an Audi car in which he was a passenger was in a head-on collision with a Toyota.

Residents say there should not have to be another death before safety measures are introduced.

One said: "It's only a matter of time. It is wrong that we have to wait for someone to die or be injured before something is done.

"There have been a catalogue of accidents, one after another."

Crosland Moor and Netherton Clr Molly Walton is working with residents to try and solve the problem.

She said: "It is a busy road, no doubt about it. It is very frustrating for the residents.

"It appears on the surface to be perverse that we have to have a certain number of accidents before we can get speed cameras. But you have to put the money where the priority areas are."

Clr Walton has asked Kirklees Council's highways department to consider cameras and traffic-calming measures.

But she says it is unlikely they will be brought in.

She added: "Highways don't think this road would qualify. But an independent organisation makes the decision.

" I have asked for some mobile cameras to be used on the road to catch speeding drivers. We are waiting for that to be done."

Clr Walton is also looking at the possibility of converting unused council land behind the Meltham Road properties into a car park.

But this could only be used by council tenants because it is Kirklees land.

There are also problems with access, which can only be gained through nearby allotments. But the gate to the allotments is kept locked when they are not in use.

Clr Walton said: "I have spoken to leisure services to ensure that the unused council land is no longer needed for leisure activities.

"A consultation would have to be done on that. Then, if that was workable, we would have to have plans drawn up and see if we could get money from the area committee budget to pay for the work.

"But it's early days yet."