An urgent safety review has been called for after coal lorries returned to a coastal village just weeks after a woman was killed by a vehicle that crashed into her home.
Catherine Bonner died after the lorry, en route to Hunterston coal plant in North Ayrshire, hit her ground-floor flat in Fairlie on February 14.
Her partner, Jim McColl, was injured, but survived.
Strathclyde Police said its inquiries are continuing into the crash, with local residents and politicians calling for a solution to the long-running concerns about industrial vehicles in the village.
A motion has now been passed by North Ayrshire Council urging Transport Scotland – which manages the A78 route – to take action in the light of the fatality.
Labour councillor Alex Gallagher, of the North Coast and Cumbraes ward, said: "We need a full traffic survey and analysis of traffic problems to identify any hazards, and suggest solutions to improve the safety of residents and road users."
Ms Bonner, who retired to Fairlie from Glasgow last year, lived in a block of five flats, with residents of all properties now unable to return to their homes for safety reasons.
A decision is due to be taken on whether to demolish or repair the block.
The lorry involved in the crash had been contracted by Fergusson Group to serve Clydeport's coal import base at Hunterston.
Steve Graham, chairman of Fairlie Community Council, said: "They are still running coal in and out of the facility on that road and people who live locally are obviously very concerned.
"There is a widely-held feeling the lorries should not be coming through the road as it just isn't suitable for the traffic now on it."
A site earmarked for a bypass in local plans was removed following a Scottish Government planning inquiry in 2004, with the land now owned by a housing developer.
Fairlie resident Professor Tony Meehan condemned the return of the coal lorries.
He said: "In less than two weeks following the tragic death of Catherine Bonner, trucks are once again charging through Fairlie."
He said a number of planning anomalies affecting the issue had to be redressed as a matter of priority.
A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: "Our sympathies are with the family and friends of the woman who lost her life in this tragic incident.
"As police investigations into this accident are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
"Safety is fundamental to all our operations and that is why Transport Scotland keeps the entire trunk road and motorway network under constant review, investigating areas of concern and taking forward safety improvements on a prioritised basis."
A spokesman for Fergusson Group said: "This has been a tragic accident and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the family of Ms Bonner.
"Our haulage requirements are met through a number of independent haulage contractors.
"Those hauliers are responsible for the selection of routes they utilise in order to fulfil their commitments."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article