RESIDENTS of a quiet road in Guiseley are demanding that action is taken to slow speeding drivers. Despite being narrow and full of bends, Thorpe Lane is used as something of a race track, with most travelling far in excess of the 30 mph speed limit.

But even though residents strongly believe something should be done, they are at a loss as to what it should be - and it could be argued that highways officers feel the same way.

All over the country, councils have their own different ways of slowing traffic - speed bumps, rumble strips, large sections of red painted at the entrance to villages, chevrons, and flashing 30mph signs, to name but a few. But how effective are they? They may all work, but only until drivers become used to them and devise their own ways of avoiding the bumps and become sanitised at the sight of blood-red splashes on the road.

No, the only really effective way to slow traffic is to hit the driver where it will hurt and head straight for the undercarriage. Any driver with more than an ounce of concern for his or her car will drive very carefully along a road filled with potholes. Now, many may argue that is exactly the policy currently adopted by Leeds City Council - a unique and forward thinking method of traffic calming.

However, it does run the risk of being sued by any driver who falls victim to a road not properly cared for. A more sensible option for the council to take might be to adopt one already used by Oxfordshire County Council - that is to simply re-class roads peppered with potholes as 'failed roads'.

A perfect solution - no-one, except the mad off-roaders, would dare to go faster than 20mph along it, and anyone unfortunate enough to lose a wheel had been warned anyway.

l The news that parts of Lower Wharfedale have been named by bikers as the Wharfedale TT race will come as no surprise to those who've seen the convoys of high powered bikes that steam through Otley and villages in the warmer weather.

At the first sign of good weather the bikers are out on their massive bikes capable of well over 100mph. With no apparent concern for the law, or for the other road users they pass, often on one wheel, they are a seasonal nightmare for the police and for the villagers whose quiet summer evenings are ruined by the constant noise of bikes customised to sound even noisier.