RESIDENTS of three ‘rat run’ roads in Branksome are to present a petition to Poole council calling for action to be taken to reduce traffic issues.

About 80 per cent of people living in Playfields Drive, Cedar Way and Recreation Road – either side of Branksome Recreation Ground – have signed the petition with some warning that their homes have suffered “structural damage” due to the speed of drivers.

Both roads have had traffic-calming measures, including chicanes and speed humps, for almost 30 years but residents living off the roads are calling for the council to do more.

Cindy Harris, who has lived in Recreation Road for 27 years – shortly after the work was completed – said that the amount of traffic on the road had increased “considerably” during that time.

“When we first moved here people had fewer cars,” she said. “We only had one and a lot of our neighbours didn’t have one at all.

“Now there most people have more than one car and the amount of traffic using the roads has risen considerably.

“A big problem is to do with speed and particularly the speed of people driving over the speed bumps.

“You can feel the vibrations and it has visibly caused structural damage to several houses in Recreation Road.”

The petition, which has been signed hundreds of times, will be put forward at the full meeting of Poole council on Tuesday by Cllr Marion Le Poidevin.

“The problem is that drivers are ignoring the current measures and we need the council to look at others ways to manage traffic,” she said.

“Things have become worse in recent years but they have always been there people are using what should be residential roads as rat runs.

“Various things have been discussed by residents, including making each road one way or closing one end of the roads.”

Mrs Harris, who put together the petition along with neighbour Barbara Reeve, suggested that blocking the road at one end would reduce the issues but that they were open to suggestions from council transport officers as to what the best way to tackle the problem would be.

The petition will be presented at the full meeting of Poole council on Tuesday (June 26) but it is expected that the issues it raise will be considered by the council’s Transportation Advisory Group at a later meeting.