AN “ACCIDENT is waiting to happen” on a Shaftesbury road that home owners claim is being used as a rat run.

Knapp resident Sonya Foreman says an increasing number of drivers are using her road as a short cut to and from the Sherborne Causeway into Shaftesbury town centre.

A threefold problem of lorries, speed, and the sheer volume of traffic has left Mrs Foreman and her neighbours fearing an accident.

“Whether the traffic is coming down from the town or up from the Causeway, most of it is travelling at high speed. It is an accident waiting to happen,” she said.

“We have small children living in the Knapp and with Tout Hill being used like a race track there would be no time to stop should a child step out into the road.”

Danger to pedestrians was increased by the absence of pavements, she added, with residents stepping from their front doors into the road.

Most of the traffic using the Knapp could remain on the Shaftesbury bypass, said Mrs Foreman, arguing that those who leave it have turned her side street into “a busy main road.” Lorries cause the greatest damage, she added, with truckers ignoring signs at the entrance to the road warning that it is unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles.

“The lorries travel at high speeds and cause our properties to shake alarmingly. Most of us have had to have our walls repaired at some point and the road is also in constant need of repair,” she added.

North Dorset MP Bob Walter said he had been convinced of the residents’ plight and would be pursuing the matter with Dorset County Council.

“Residents have expressed the fear that the area is an ‘accident waiting to happen’ and I have to say I agree with them,” said Mr Walter.