NEWENT Town Council will lobby for a weight restriction on vehicles accessing the town centre.

Under a scheme launched in 2011, each county councillor has a budget of £20,000 to spend on highways issues in their areas. The town council want their county council rep Will Winsor-Clive to use his allocation to stop the rat run of heavy goods vehicle through the town by imposing a 7.5 ton limit.

In August, a lorry struck a parked car on Broad Street as it turned into Culver Street.

"We've talked about this for years," said coun Len Lawton.

"When I was in the chair I had meetings with the County Council. I was rather shocked at the time to be told that they didn't actually want trucks going through Mitcheldean, they prefer them going through Newent.

"When you compare the two, Mitcheldean has a wide opening High Street and Newent hasn't. We have a conservation area, they haven't. It seems like a bit of nonsense.

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