A PUBLIC meeting is being arranged between Ledbury Town Council and Herefordshire Council's contractor for highways, Balfour Beatty to discuss the town's traffic problems.

Safer crossing points for school children , speeding, selfish parking by junctions and overgrown paths are all likely to be on the agenda.

The date is yet to be fixed, but the town's traffic management task and finish group have been logging the concerns of local residents, in advance of the meeting.

Group chairman, Cllr Bob Barnes said: "It's an ongoing, developing situation, but we are inviting a Balfour Beatty officer to a meeting to look into the various areas which have been brought to our attention."

Local residents have expressed concerns about speeding in Bridge Street, including fears about the safety of school children having to cross the road there.

In order to gather more evidence, because of a lack of serious traffic incidents on police records concerning Bridge Street, several town councillors have volunteered to observe the situation "over a period of time".

Another idea being discussed is for a "town-wide traffic assessment" to be funded by the town council, with concerns about speeding being, again, a main area of concern.

The town council has also received complaints about selfish parking by some local junctions.

Cllr Barnes said; "There has been one incident where the driver of a delivery vehicle had not been able to access upper Bank Crescent, near to the junction with Homend Crescent, owning to the narrowing of the road by cars parked on both sides.

"One solution would be an extension of the existing double yellow lines, and this idea will be raised with Balfour Beatty at the meeting."

Local residents have expressed similar concerns about selfish parking by junctions at Victoria Road, Lower Road, Bridge Street and Biddulph Way.

Safer routes to school are also being discussed.

But one resident has complained about the state of the town trail from Woodleigh Road to Bridge Street, because of "wet, muddy and overgrown verges, unsuitable for her child going to school".