Traffic on country lane near Colchester angers residents

One driver said Argents Lane, between West Bergholt and Eight Ash Green, had been used as a rat run for years

People living near a country lane claim it is being used as a "rat run", with a councillor saying the traffic was the worst he had ever seen there.

Argents Lane, linking West Bergholt and Eight Ash Green, near Colchester, is often used by drivers avoiding the A12.

Brian Butcher, chairman of West Bergholt Parish Council, said: "It was never designed for the volume of traffic it has."

Essex Highways said it had yet to receive reports but would investigate.

Mr Butcher said of the traffic: "It is probably the worst I have seen it."

'They fly up there'

Matthew Allum, landlord of The Cricketers pub at Eight Ash Green, said drivers may have been using the lane to avoid roadworks on the A12.

He likened scenes on the lane to the video game Mario Kart, but said even that "would not do it justice."

He said: "It can be worse than the M25 at times. They fly up there, the speed they go through.

"The problem we have got at the moment, is that the A12 is in a bit of a pickle.

"They do not want to join the A12 because they are getting stuck when they want to go southbound."

He added: "Argents Lane was never built to take this much traffic. We are building all these houses but unfortunately there is just not the infrastructure."

The lane has a speed limit of 60mph (97km/h).

Brian Andrews, who lives nearby, said: "You have a sign at the top of the hill in Eight Ash Green saying it is unsuitable for HGVs but they [the drivers] do not seem to take much notice.

"The rat run has always been there."

An Essex Highways spokesperson said: "We have received no reports of this nature on Argents Lane, however, [we] will ask a street works inspector to investigate."