An MP has expressed his disappointment over a refusal to lower the speed limit on a stretch of road where he claims lives are being put at risk.

Greg Mulholland is calling on Leeds highways department to think again after he was told the limit on Moorland Road in Bramhope would not be lowered from 60mph to 30mph.

Mr Mulholland says he has the support of local residents in calling for a reduction.

He said: “There are serious concerns that someone is going to be seriously injured or killed on this road.

“It is vital that the highways department look at this again and we can avoid an accident.”

The Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West said he had been told that one of the principle reasons for the failure to change the speed limit is that it would be cost-prohibitive.

He said: “I am surprised to see the highways department using cost as a reason for not lowering the speed limit. The outlay for a few new road signs cannot be that expensive and it could literally save lives.”

The MP said he was responding to road safety concerns raised by residents and was asking the local authority – which has rejected previous calls for a lower limit on the basis of low average traffic speeds – to look at the issue again.

But Leeds City councillor Clive Fox (Con, Adel and Wharfedale) believes he is raising false hopes about the issue.

Coun Fox, who also serves on Bramhope & Carlton Parish Council, said: “As a former city councillor, he must know that Leeds, like every city in the country, has a due process for assessing the need for speed limits including traffic speeds, the incidence of accidents and some assessment of other traffic hazards.

“In the case of Moorland Road, we are told that following speed checks traffic rarely exceeds 30mph.

“This raises the question of what is the point in promoting formal speed restrictions where, on the face of it, the authorities don’t feel there is a particular problem in the first place.”