RESIDENTS of a Dorset village dubbed ‘the village of the jammed’ have filed papers to start legal action in the High Court after campaigners exceeded their crowdfunding target of £5,000.

More than 80 people living in Melbury Abbas have raised £6,550 to take Dorset County Council to court after the council re-routed lorries through the area’s narrow streets which residents claim have caused “mayhem” in the village.

The campaign, which was launched last month, set a target to raise £5,000 to start formal legal action and now villagers have officially sent off the legal paperwork to the High Court who are expected to formalise the action in the next few weeks.

Legal papers will then be served to the county council who will have 21 days to respond.

The parish council which is leading the campaign say that the county council deliberately diverted lorries through the village to save wear and tear on the nearby A350.

However, the changes have now been made permanent, which has resulted in HGVs regularly getting trapped along the narrow C13 road up to 18 times a week.

Cllr William Kenealy, chairman of Melbury Abbas & Cann parish council, said that the legal action will now proceed unless Dorset County Council decide to reach an alternative agreement and back down.”

Following the response from the initial fundraiser, the parish council have now decided to extend their target to an ultimate goal of £10,000.

Traffic problems started in the village in June 2016 when Dorset County Council put up signs directing southbound HGVs to use the C13 instead of the main A350 which runs parallel to it.

The concept, highways bosses say was to create an unofficial one-way system for HGVs in the area, with northbound lorries using the A-road.

But, villagers have recorded more than 1,400 jams lasting almost 30 minutes on average since the signs were installed and decided to take legal action through a judicial review in the High Court in London.

The county council said that it would monitor the situation.