ANGRY residents of a Tavistock estate claim the road to their houses which has no pavements is now so dangerous that lives are being put at risk.

Calls are being made to delay the construction of 42 new homes at Manor Oaks until safety issues have been addressed for the 21 residents who already live along the road.

Occupants of Limes Lane, The Heights and Saxon Road raised the issue at this week's annual town meeting in Tavistock Town Hall and have sent petitions to West Devon Borough council, Geoffrey Cox MP and developers Taylor Wimpey. Michael Harper, who lives at The Heights, said there was no way that the narrow access road could cope with what could be a 200% increase in traffic.

'Construction work has started and someone is having to walk up with the lorries because the road is so unsuitable,' he said.

'Children dash across the road to get to the green area on the other side and people have to go out into the road to get to their front doors from their drives. 'I think we are looking at fatalities here if something is not done.'

He said in Devon County Council's own design guide for highways in residential areas it stated that developments of more than 50 houses should have pavements of two metres on both sides. He added that despite numerous concerns being raised with the authorities, there had been no solution and residents were now at their 'wits end'.

'We want everyone to come to the table and realise that the access to this development in its current form poses a significant risk to the lives of residents and their children.'

Diana Bennett said when she and her husband first looked into buying their property on the The Heights estate, they asked about the traffic that would arise from the next phase of development and were ANGRY residents of a Tavistock estate claim the road to their houses which has no pavements is now so dangerous that lives are being put at risk.

Calls are being made to delay the construction of 42 new homes at Manor Oaks until safety issues have been addressed for the 21 residents who already live along the road. Occupants of Limes told there would be a separate entrance.

'It was also supposed to be 29 luxury apartments but now the developer has permission for 42. The road is not big enough to cope with all this development, especially as it has no pavement.' Taylor Wimpey's application for 42 homes was won on appeal.

Residents were furious when a technical blunder by West Devon Borough Council meant they were unaware of the appeal hearing and therefore denied their opportunity to put forward their views.

Town councillor and health and safety instructor Brian Trew, who has compiled a health and safety report on behalf of the residents, said The Heights was a narrow and fairly clear road which would lend itself to traffic travelling far faster than it was safe to do so.

He said: 'Admittedly, traffic should not speed, but roads should be designed to minimise the opportunity to do so, especially where children are playing.

'It is plainly obvious that children will use the roadway as a pavement. There is no other option.'

A spokesman for Devon County Council said the scheme had been through the full planning approval process and the road was designed to the relevant standard for this type of road, which was considered to be a safe design standard.

'The masterplan design statement produced by the developer is quite clear on the various types of road layout, and shows quite clearly on the layout plan, "single surface parkland road",' he said.

'It also shows that there was only ever going to be one point of access for vehicles, with a further pedestrian entrance from Old Launceston Road.'

He added that the Devon Design Guide was written in 1996 and last updated in 2001. In 2007 the Government published the Manual for Streets which advocated a move away from rigid design criteria to a more considered approach of what is right for the particular site and local context.

The manual emphasises that streets should be places in which people want to live and spend time in, and are not just transport corridors. In particular, it aims to reduce the impact of vehicles on residential streets by asking practitioners to plan street design intelligently and proactively, and gives a high priority to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transport.

Taylor Wimpey were not available for comment as the Times went to press.