THE "yellow jacket" protesters brought Paris to a standstill with their violence and anti-government cries but in Furness a more peaceful type of marching did its bit to bring about change.

Marchers with placards took to the streets in the 1980s to make sure that ministers knew that Dalton was still waiting for its road bypass.

There must have been times when a mass rally was the only safe way for a pedestrian to get across the main shopping street in the town.

Jane Porter was among march organisers in 1981 after seeing her grandchildren struggle to get to school safely.

She told the Mail: "We held a protest march every Saturday, getting tremendous support and holding up the traffic."

A summary of the long struggle was carried in the Mail on December 21 in 1993. It noted: "For many years, cars and lorries have ground to a halt on the narrow, twisting road through the middle of Dalton."

The article noted: "As time went by, queues of traffic lengthened and crossing Market Street became a dangerous and often frustratingly long ordeal.

"The A590 dominated life for those living, shopping and working in the centre of the town."

Getting a bypass scheme acceptable to all seemed like a bigger challenge than Brexit.

The article noted: "As the traffic flow increased, so the plans multiplied and the routes changed.

"One grandiose venture suggested a flyover being built to link Market Street with Beckside.

"Through the years of thwarted planning the people of Dalton have waited. Not always patiently.

"There have been demonstrations protesting against painfully slow moving bureaucracy."