THORNTON'S future went under the spotlight on Friday as campaigners for the area held their annual public meeting.

Around 200 concerned residents packed into Thornton Lecture Hall to hear Thornton Action Group (TAG) chairman Howard Phillips -- and to quiz local police, MPs Joan Humble and Hilton Dawson and Wyre Borough Council officer Rodger Wightman.

Lack of playgrounds, Thornton Rugby Club's move to King George's Playing Fields, a £400,000 bill for revamping the lecture hall, and plans to store gas under the nearby Wyre Estuary were all highlighted and discussed at the occasionally fractious meeting.

But chief among the concerns was Thornton's main route, the A585 -- which campaigners argue is already overloaded and will not be able to cope with extra cars from new housing near Bispham and a planned link road to Bispham's technology park. Mr Phillips also highlighted the 1300 extra houses planned for Fleetwood and Cleveleys by Lancashire County Council.

TAG was worried, he said, about all the extra traffic and development, when only 'tweaking' of the A585 was planned.

"To us that does not sound like joined up planning. The infrastructure is inadequate to support the regeneration."

The 'only good news' he added, was that the housing was earmarked for brownfield sites, safeguarding areas such as Thornton's Poolfoot Farm, which was the subject of a public inquiry after locals fought a planned housing development there.

Blackpool North and Fleetwood MP Joan Humble -- who attended along with Lancaster and Wyre MP Hilton Dawson -- said she had asked for a meeting with government officials about the problem, and that the government's Route Management Strategy -- which includes the A585 -- was due to be published in the coming months.

"I can't allow any development in Fleetwood to be affected because all the way down the road because it's being clogged," she said.

"At the end of the day we can't just tinker with this problem. We need something much more major doing to it."

Further information about TAG can be found on the group's website at thorntonactiongroup.co.uk