RESIDENTS living on a Melksham housing estate are questioning the safety of a controversial road project after three accidents in six weeks.

On March 18, work started on a new traffic-calming scheme in Forest Road.

But changes to the road layout have confused motorists who have crashed into each other at a roundabout in Church Lane.

Residents are calling for drastic changes because they feel parts of the scheme are unsafe due to poor visibility.

Mayor Vic Oakman, who lives on the Forest estate, said: "There is nothing wrong with the idea behind the scheme but the roundabout is a total botch up.

"I have lived here for 30 years and there has never been an accident in this area until now.

"The road markings are not clear and the roundabout is off-centre. Cars are finding it hard to negotiate."

Engineers have already had to make changes to the roundabout because coaches could not get around it. Bosses at Minerva Travel said their coaches were unable to drive around the island, threatening services to the Pig and Whistle pub.

Residents believe this is just the start of a long line of problems.

Don Critten, the landlord of the Pig and Whistle, said he thought the roundabout was a total fiasco.

"There has been lots of abuse between motorists," he said.

"The lack of signposts is the main cause of accidents," he added. A spokesman for the county council admitted there was a problem but hoped it would be solved next week.

He said: "There is an issue with drainage so the road surface has not settled. We will go back in next week and resurface it. Until then we cannot put down new road markings or signs.

"In the meantime we are asking people to exercise caution when approaching the roundabout and treat it as a T-junction until the work is done."