TAVISTOCK residents are this week calling for urgent action, claiming a new road layout has created a dangerous rat-run through their estate.

Residents at Tiddybrook are horrified that traffic is being routed through the estate now that the road into Anderton Lane has been opened up.

Tiddybrook resident Trish Curry said: 'I am disgusted at what they've done.

'There's definitely more traffic going through — it's the kids I am worried about. They've become used to being able to play in the little parks which are so close to the road — the visibility is extremely poor, the road winds, and you have to slalom through parked cars — it's so dangerous.'

Mrs Curry added that the block paving road surface in the estate was 'treacherous' when wet or icy and there had already been problems with it, without the pressure of additional traffic.

Resident Valerie Honey said 'very urgent action' to improve safety was required, including a 15mph speed limit, improved signage and traffic calming measures.

Resident Justine Jones said the current 30mph speed limit was 'unacceptable' — particularly through the block paved area, which was level with the pavements.

'It seems incomprehensible that local planners and highways can allow this volume of traffic to travel through a shared surface, residential development where children are crossing to and from local play parks,' she said.

Jo Tracey, secretary of Tiddybrook Residents' Committee, said: 'Anderton Lane was a rat-run at the best of times, but since they opened the road, we have seen a real increase in traffic through the estate.

'I've seen drivers really putting their foot down. We are getting huge articulated lorries coming through and people are getting really concerned — even one accident is one too many.'

She said the committee would be pressing for speed restrictions, improved signage and replacement of the block paving with a tarmac road surface, with clear demarkation of the pavements.

Resident and town councillor David Rose said: 'Residents are upset and angry that their quiet estate has become a main through route rather than a small local access to and from Anderton Lane as expected.

'All traffic, including lorries of any weight and size, can now crunch through a high density residential development. The safety aspect with so many young families is evident for all to see.

'As a councillor and resident I and other residents have raised our concerns on numerous occasions and will continue to do so until common sense prevails and before any accident forces action.'

Tavistock county councillor Debo Sellis said this issue arose from a planning decision made in 2005: 'Obviously, you inherit decisions which are made, but I share the residents' concerns, that mixing an open plan development, with a children's play area and heavy traffic, on the winding, twisting roads of a nice estate, just doesn't work.

'It's a recipe for disaster and has consequences for people's health and well-being.

'I realise in 2005 the emphasis was on green transport and in encouraging less car use, restricting car parking spaces to only one and-a-half spaces per house, but we live in a rural area and planners have to realise that what works in an urban area, doesn't in a rural area.'

Cllr Sellis has requested that the county council carries out a safety audit in the area, now the road has been opened.

'It just shows how very cautious you have to be when making decisions that will affect future generations,' she said.

A Devon County Council spokesperson said: 'Devon County Council believe the development has been completed in line with the approved plans granted in 2005. However, we are monitoring the situation on the road and undertaking a safety audit with the local county councillor Debo Sellis.'

A spokesperson for West Devon Borough Council said: 'The road from the roundabout to Anderton Lane was always planned to be a through road, since the inception of the whole project and that the original plans show the road running through; it is a winding road through the estate and that is seen as traffic calming.'

The spokesperson said that anyone buying a house at Tiddybrook would have had access to the plans.

Improved signage and speed restrictions were a matter for the county council, added the spokesperson.