FOR SEVERAL years, mothers of Helmshore’s ‘danger mile’ lived free from the fear of their children being knocked down, thanks to Mrs Glenda Anderton’s playpen. But as of June of 1982, all of the children had to stay indoors after the police and corporation officials told Mrs Anderton to remove the playpen from outside of her home in Holcombe Road.

But Mrs Anderson wasn’t going down without a fight and planned to attend the next council meeting to put her point across.

She said: “The pen is not interfering with anybody. It is a wide pavement and even when the pen is in position, there is still plenty of room for people to pass. There is no room at the back of the houses for the children to play and they are too young to be sent to nearby open spaces. They cannot play on the pavement without protection because lorries are always roaring past.”