A petition has been launched to show support for the campaign to set 20mph speed limits on most of the residential streets in towns and villages across Cheshire East.

It has been set up by sustainability action group Macctastic on behalf of Cheshire East Climate Alliance, which brings together local sustainability groups from across Cheshire East.

David Mayers of Cheshire East Climate Alliance said there was to be a council vote on July 22 over setting a default 20mph limit on residential roads in Cheshire East.

He said: “This has been done in dozens of councils across the UK with great success, making our streets safer for all road users, encouraging active travel and protecting the most vulnerable members of our society.

“Coming on the back of the quieter roads we all enjoyed during lockdown, this is the ideal time for this initiative and there is a great deal of public support for it.

"It's not the only way we can reduce our dependence on cars and lorries and improve our air quality, but it's probably the quickest and cheapest.

“It will complement perfectly the limited initiatives being introduced by Cheshire East over the next few weeks and months in response to the Covid-19 crisis – such as closing streets to vehicles to promote active travel and enable social distancing.

“It would make a huge difference to the streets where we all live, work and play.

"The petition will show our councillors there is real public support for this and make sure they vote in favour."

The petition can be found here