Residents in Titchfield plan to park their cars in the street to stop motorists using village as a rat run

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DISGRUNTLED residents who were fed up with their village being used as a rat run are taking matters into their own hands

As previously reported, the opening of the Stubbington bypass in May has led to many motorists driving through Titchfield to reach the M27, Park Gate and Warsash.

This, residents say, is because it is faster to drive through Titchfield due to there being fewer roundabouts and traffic lights, with a lack of traffic calming measures.

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The volume of traffic has caused headaches for residents throughout Common Lane, Coach Hill and Bridge Street, and some drivers are travelling at up to 60mph.

Traffic building up in Common Lane, Titchfield. Picture: David GeorgeTraffic building up in Common Lane, Titchfield. Picture: David George
Traffic building up in Common Lane, Titchfield. Picture: David George
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Now, Fareham Borough Council has installed speed reminder signs, and Hampshire County Council will be conducting a traffic count.

Vivian Stewart, who has been campaigning for traffic calming measures, said: 'It's certainly half a step forward, and the speed reminder is flashing like a Christmas tree.

'With school holidays the speeds and volume of traffic is going crazy. We're seeing easily 500 cars an hour.

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'Nobody along Common Lane has to park along the road but unless this starts to be taken seriously I fear that something terrible will happen.'

With a demand for action, residents are taking things into their own hands.

Today, locals will be parking their cars in the street, rather than using their driveways.

According to Mrs Stewart, a handful of households have already started parking their cars along the side of the road.

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This, they claim, will force motorists to slow down and may make some of them rethink their route in the future.

Mrs Stewart said: 'We won't be blocking the road of course - emergency services and buses will still be able to pass through - but we want to make this a less attractive route by creating pinchpoints.

'The county council is carrying out a post-bypass review at some stage but for the moment nothing else is actually happening.

'We don't want words, we want action, and will take that action ourselves if we have to.'

Should an accident take place due to speeding motorists, many of the locals have CCTV cameras to capture what happened.

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