Residents urged Cheshire East to consider introducing a 20mph speed limit on restricted roads across the borough and asked why it isn't included in the draft active travel strategy.

The call came at last night's (Thursday) meeting of the highways and transport committee where councillors were discussing the draft strategy and local cycling, walking and infrastructure plans.

Local resident Tim Meluish told the committee: "Concerns over road danger and fear of collisions are the most common barriers to cycling.

"Furthermore, the speed at which people drive impacts the likelihood and severity of the outcome of a collision.

"People walking who are hit by a vehicle at 30 miles an hour are around five times more likely to be killed than at 20 miles an hour."

Mr Meluish said he estimated, based on the cost of the Wales 20mph scheme, it would cost Cheshire East about £10 million to do the same across the borough.

"In other words, for just one tenth of the cost of one bypass, the majority of residents across the whole borough would benefit," he said.

He added that adopting a default 20mph limit would be cheaper and less disruptive than constructing segregated cycle lanes.

John Knight, Macclesfield-based campaigner for the Green Party, said: "While reduction of the default speed limit from 30 to 20 would have very little effect on journey times, it would be a massive improvement in the safety for non-motorised road users."

He added: "Even after the previous government's vehement opposition to these reduced speed limits, 20 is plenty, two thirds of residents in central Macclesfield would still like to see this put in place."

Tom Moody, director of transport and infrastructure, said the council adopted a speed management strategy about two and half years ago.

"The decision that was resolved by this committee was to implement a case-by-case approach, an area-by-area approach, which considers a number of factors within those areas, which will potentially determine whether or not a reduction in the speed limit is required," said Mr Moody.

"The strategy does not, in itself, adopt a unilateral approach to 20mph speed limits across the borough."

Committee chair Mark Goldsmith (Wilmslow, Ind) said while he understood the sentiment of the public speakers 'currently, we do not have £10 million in reserves at all'.

"We have almost no reserves at all," he said. "So while it is a very small sum of money in the scheme of things, and to central government, for us at the moment, that's a huge amount of money."