A £16,000 rural gateway at Whitchurch — part of a road safety scheme — has been wrecked just weeks after it was completed.

Motorists have driven over the unprotected grassy chicane, between Whitchurch and Grenofen, destroying the turf.

The rural gateway was designed to reduce the speed of traffic through Whitchurch Road and included a short section of footpath. An urban gateway, costing £8,000 was built at the same time at the Tavistock end of the busy road.

A 20mph speed limit was also introduced at the Whitchurch Primary School entrance during drop-off and pick-up times.

The scheme was Devon County Council's answer to the numerous complaints from residents worried about the amount and speed of vehicles using the back road as a rat-run to Plymouth.

But Ben Bradshaw, from Horrabridge, who regularly drives the stretch of road, said: 'There is virtually nothing left of it. People don't stop, they just drive right over the top of the verge.

'This is our money which has been used and a lot of money has been spent on the scheme — it is such a waste.'

And Tom Quartley, who lives at Grenofen and uses the road daily, said: 'It is like a farm track — lorries have smashed their way through and scattered the turf everywhere.

'The gateway has been totally destroyed, what a waste of money.

'I drove along on Monday and there was mud all over the road after the rain we had had in the night. You couldn't see the white lines that had been painted last week.

'It is a stupid place to put it, motorists pass the gateway and then speed up again in the Whitchurch Road.'

After checking the damage, Mike Parnell, West Devon's local service officer, admitted there was 'a bit of a problem'.

'People are driving over the grass but we are going to monitor the situation for a week or two to see if motorists start to use the gateway in the way it was designed,' he said.

'Hopefully, they will and we won't have to do anything further.'

Mr Parnell said kerbing the stretch might be a possibility.

'But this would mean extra expense.'