SOUND-absorbent road surfacing may mean �2million worth of acoustic barriers to protect villagers from traffic noise from the A14 may not have to be built, it was revealed today.

Community leaders at Trimley St Mary have been told significant work may take place on the dual carriageway this autumn and if it is a success, then the villagers’ campaign for barriers may be dropped.

Some repairs of the road – used by nearly 30,000 cars, vans and lorries every day – have already taken place with the patched areas showing that traffic noise can be considerably reduced.

Householders say they have to keep windows shut because of the sound of juggernauts, and in summer cannot enjoy their gardens.

But the cost of providing the sound barriers has risen four-fold since the Port of Felixstowe agreed to pay �500,000 for them to mitigate noise from its increased traffic when it expands, and there is now concern over whether they will be put in place.

Parish council chairman Colin Jacobs said: “There is a dreadful racket in the village from the A14 but 90 per cent of it is not the engine noise, it’s the road surface.

“If the A14 is to be resurfaced in this silent tarmacadam, as we understand it is, we will see what the noise is like then.

“There are a couple of quiet places they have done already with this material and it makes a hell of a difference.

“We will wait and see what happens after the roadworks.”

The parish councils are due to meet with port and council officials, and the Highways Agency, again in September to look at research in the options for acoustic barriers.

There is no “one size fits all” solution, and it is feared, because of the terrain, in some places people may lose part of their garden or find high fencing close to homes.