PEOPLE living on a quiet residential road in Chippenham say they are dicing with death because lorries are mounting the kerb and driving onto the pavements.

Lorries trying to reach the M4 have been redirected onto Hill Corner Road since works to improve the A350 started, prompting residents like Howard Morland to call for a weight restriction.

“This has been happening for a couple of years, but the traffic has increased ever since they started working on the dualling of the A350 to the Morrisons roundabout,” said Mr Morland, who also leads the Speed Watch team.

“I have challenged drivers in the past and they say they are just following the sat nav to get to the M4. It’s not good.

“It’s not merely a problem for residents, but more worryingly, a risk to pedestrians.

“At the bottom of the hill the pavement runs out where children cross to go to school.

“It is also where the HGVs are having to mount the pavement when they meet oncoming vehicles.

“The evidence on risk is well known to Wiltshire Council - not least because a drain cover on the pavement has had to be replaced twice due to damage by HGVs driving over it.”

Mr Morland, who first brought up the issue in 2014, wants a weight restriction to be put in place so that the danger of lorries passing through the estate can be put to bed.

The restriction was put forward by the Community Area Transport Group as one of Chippenham’s two priorities for this year’s Freight Assessment and Priority Mechanism but Wiltshire Council decided not to take this recommendation any further following a cabinet member report, which highlighted more prominent priorities.

“An earlier request for a weight limit to be imposed had got nowhere, so with the support of Councillor Melody Thompson and MP Michelle Donelan, the associate director of highways and transport at Wiltshire Council was asked to address the risk issue again. When a response came it was completely unhelpful, adopting an over-bureaucratic approach that failed to recognise why the safety of pedestrians is so important.

“I appreciate that council resources are overstretched but the safety of children cannot be compromised.”

Although work to build more than 120 homes off Hill Corner Road has started, Mr Morland says the issue is being caused by contractors, not by construction traffic.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “This is related to advanced works ahead of a housing development taking place in the area and we’re looking into the issue.”