RESIDENTS of a Felixstowe street used as a rat run by motorists to avoid a traffic calming scheme in a neighbouring road fear it is only a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured.

RESIDENTS of a Felixstowe street used as a rat run fear it is only a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured.

Householders in King Street, Walton, attended a public meeting to air their worries - and call for action to deal with the problems.

The situation in the road, which runs between Seaton Road and High Street, has got progressively worse over the past 15 years since road humps were put in Maidstone Road, causing people to avoid that street.

“It has got worse and worse and if something is not done soon then we will have someone seriously injured or killed in King Street - do we have to wait for that to happen before action is taken?” said resident Ian Heeley.

“Between 8am and 9.15am the street is used as a short-cut by people going to work at the port and all the parents bringing children to the schools in Maidstone Road and the speed some of them go is horrendous.”

Resident Dave Barker said: “Half the chaos is caused by mums who are too lazy to walk their kids to school.

“Surveys which have been done in the past have shown there are real problems and now we want an answer.”

Other residents complained about the abuse of yellow lines at the High Street end, which exacerbated the dangers in the street.

Pc Peter Stewart said people were allowed to park on yellow lines for around ten minutes to pop into a shop as long as the vehicle was not left in a dangerous position, such as extremely close to a junction.

He would organise speed checks in the road, and officers would speak to shop owners to see if delivery lorries could be parked and manoeuvred more carefully.

Residents had previously been offered three solutions - closure of the road at one end, stopping it up in the middle to make it access only, and traffic calming.

Councillor Mike Deacon said the road was not appropriate for a 30mph limit and councillors would meet to discuss the possibility of a 20mph limit and other potential solutions.

Angela Rapley, from the county council highways department, said funding was the main problem - money was limited with priority given to places where accidents had happened regularly over at least three years.

What do you think would solve King Street's problems? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk