Bolton Council wants to "reclaim" some residential streets for residents from motorists.

There are 6,000 "Home Zones" in the Netherlands, where the idea was first thought up.

Now, Bolton may be in line for a pilot scheme. BEN feature writer Frank Elson went to Longsight in Manchester, where a pilot scheme already exists, to find out more.

Locals not impressed

Astley Bridge residents will "wait and see" what effect a new scheme to slow traffic down will have. But in Manchester, where a "Home Zone" scheme is already in operation, locals are not impressed.

Bolton is hoping for a share of a £30 million budget allocated by the Government to set up the Home Zones in an effort to reclaim streets for people, without banning cars altogether.

Road markings and street furniture are intended to slow traffic down, to the point where "rat run" motorists give up using them altogether, while not restricting access for locals.

Experts say that the average speed of vehicles through Home Zones is around 10mph.

However, in the Northmoor area of Longsight where a Home Zone is already in force, the main concern for residents appears to be parking.

"We can't park properly in the street anymore," said Asheer Asiz, "although having to zig-zag up and down has slowed traffic.

"But with many of the houses in the street being re-built, the vans, lorries and rubble would probably do the job just as easily.

"Maybe by next summer, if they plant some trees and all the workmen are gone, it might look nicer and children might want to play out."

William Hubert is less charitable.

"It's a waste of money. It does nothing that a handful of those speed bumps wouldn't do," he said.

A spokesman for Manchester City Council's highways department claimed that the Home Zone had made a difference.

"Complaints about speeding motorists using the streets as a 'rat run' have died out completely, so the scheme, in those terms, is a total success," he said. "We have no control over the weather. If children want to play out they can do so now -- in safety."

And the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), who have studied Home Zones where they were invented, in the Netherlands, welcome the spread of the scheme.

National Road Safety Officer Kevin Clinton said: "We warmly welcome Home Zones and their equivalent -- Quiet Lanes -- and hope that they spread quickly throughout the country.

"A Home Zone is a very good way of protecting pedestrians -- particularly children.

"They cannot be set up just anywhere, only in rat run areas where there are alternative routes for vehicles to use.

"It is all about identifying roads which are routes into or out of a town and roads which are residential or near to schools."

The three areas which Bolton Council feel could benefit from Home Zoning are Paulhan Street in Great Lever, Brooklyn Street in Halliwell and Dunoon Drive in Astley Bridge.

All three are near to schools and are used as a short cut by drivers.

Ron Powers, who lives in Astley Bridge, said: "We will have to wait and see what they come up with. We have asked for traffic calming or something -- anything -- to stop these cars racing up and down.

"I admit that the Home Zone sounds like a good idea at the moment, but I will wait and see what it turns out like."

Another Astley Bridge resident, Mrs Margaret Wheeler, said: "While we need to slow the traffic down, I'm frightened to let the kids out of the front gate.

"We do need to be able to get in and out ourselves so it is an idea which could work."

Finance for the scheme will come from the Local Government area of the Home Office, although the idea from Holland was refined by the Department of Transport.

A government spokesman said: "Although we are only working on setting up pilot schemes, we are very excited by Home Zones.

"A Home Zone is a permanent way of reclaiming residential streets for residents from those who use them as through routes.

"It actively discourages motorists while not banning those who have a legitimate need to use the streets and it takes away the obvious enforcement difficulties inherent in access-only areas."