FURIOUS Tavistock residents say children's lives are being put at risk because of a dangerous road through their estate.

The residents at Tiddybrook claim Devon?County Council has still not taken action regarding road changes in their area, despite a safety audit last year.

They say that since Buzzard Road on Tiddybrook was opened on to Anderton Lane, with vehicles being directed through the estate, traffic has increased to a huge extent, using unsuitable narrow roads filled with parked cars.

Town councillor David Rose, who lives on Buzzard Road, said the situation was 'ridiculous'.

Cllr Rose said a cyclist had been hospitalised after being hit by a vehicle in the area, and there had been many other near misses.

He said:?'Recently we saw this huge double articulated delivery lorry trying to get through at the same time the refuse people were there doing the recycling. They just stood and looked at him in horror as he went over the pavements to try and get around them, he wasn't even going to wait a few seconds until they moved.'

Cllr Rose said the block-paved section of Buzzard Road was also dangerous and badly designed, with no safe delineation between the road and pavement.

'A three-year-old just wouldn't know if it was on the road or the pavement. I know one chap is absolutely terrified of letting his child walk in that area because they will have no conception that a great lorry could easily wipe them out there.'

Resident Jo Tracey said: 'If there was one place not to have block paving, it's there.

'And if you hit that bit at speed, the car is effectively leaving the road — if it's wet or icy, you are in all sorts of problems.'

Kestrel Park resident Lee Whiting said he felt it was only a matter of time before a child was hit by a car or lorry: 'We get loads of really huge lorries coming through now, and all the cars go really quickly. When the bus stops, cars just can't see to get past safely, we get lorries trying to do U-turns because their satnav has told them to go into an estate and they think they are lost.

'The children's play park opposite our house has had to have the gate bolted up because the road is just so dangerous now.'

Chartered surveyor and Tiddybrook resident Phil Desmond said: 'We should have had a 20mph speed limit and we haven't got it, we should have had some form of discouragement of what Devon County Council call extraneous traffic and we haven't got it, in fact, we have positive encouragement of it, through the deliberate re-routing of through traffic, which has made Buzzard Road a primary traffic route, which it wasn't designed to be.'

Mr Desmond said when he bought his home, his expectation was that there would be a T-junction from Buzzard Road to Anderton Lane.

However, this would now be difficult to achieve, because of the 'kink' which had been built into Anderton Lane.

'We understand the reason it's there is to make a safe crossing for the cycle track — unfortunately to the detriment of our estate,'

Mr Desmond said the county council estimated it would cost £150,000 to £200,000 to put Anderton Lane back to its original shape. He said the residents' group would still press for this, but in the meantime was asking the county council to implement the 20mph speed restriction, to impose a weight restriction of 7.5 tonnes and to change the signage to access only, or no through road.

'If this doesn't work and we still get the lorries and the boy racers coming through, we will have a stronger case to put to highways,' said Mr Desmond.

He added that the county council had carried out a safety audit in the area at the end of last year, but had chosen a week day afternoon when the road was quiet.

County councillor Debo Sellis said she had spent hours with officers to try and work out a solution to the problems at Tiddybrook.

She has arranged a meeting with the council's cabinet member, officers from the highways department and had been in contact with estate developer Redrow.

She said: 'I fully support the residents and I understand they are getting very frustrated.'

A spokesman for the county council said: 'We are looking into these concerns.'