A petition calling on Cumbria County Council to scrap plans for an extra lane on one of the main routes into Carlisle has attracted more than 400 signatures - days after it was set up.

Neil Kilgour, who lives on Warwick Road, is just one of a group of residents who are fiercely opposed to the plans, which it hoped will help to alleviate traffic heading into the city.

Mr Kilgour said that both he and other objectors are prepared to do “whatever it takes” in their bid to force council planners to scrap the proposals.

Over the weekend, residents also pinned banners to their homes stating their opposition to the plans, also using the hashtags #cantheplan and #stopdontchop.

“It’s only been going a few days but it’s doing really well, better than I expected, to be honest,” he told the News & Star.

About 40 residents descended on The Auctioneer at Rosehill, last week to voice their concerns during a public consultation event.

Many believe that the extra lane will not reduce traffic - and claim that it is a potential safety risk. They are opposed to the fact that the plans will mean the trees that line Warwick Road will be cut down.

“We’ve also been out putting posters on every tree,” Mr Kilgour added. “They’ve all got the hashtag ‘Stop Don’t Chop’ on them. It’s a campaign that we’re trying to start. Some residents are also putting banners outside their homes. The first ones have already gone up.”

Mr Kilgour said that he is hoping to present the petition - which he originally hoped would attract 500 signatures - by the time a public consultation ends on June 30.

“We’re just going to let it run and see how many we get,” he said. “We’re due another consultation after June 30 so we’ll be making our feelings known again. We’ll do whatever it takes. We’re just letting the council know what nobody wants this to happen. People have been commenting on the petition as well."

Kenny Scott, who lives on Warwick Road, is one of those who has a banner outside his home. "It was my wife who put it up," he said. "She was at the meeting. They've given us two weeks to have our say - it's not enough.

"It's going to be nigh-on impossible for us to pull out of our driveways when there's another lane, it's already hard enough as it is."

At the consultation meeting held on June 19, Victoria Kelsall, senior program manager for Cumbria County Council, said: "We wanted to put on a public consultation so people could come and look at the plans, find out about what we're proposing and give their opinions.

"We've had a mixed response. There's been positive feedback and people have expressed concern about the safety of cyclists, which is something that we'll be able to look at."