Archive: Village's women ban sex before bypass demo

Women living in a village imposed a sex ban on their husbands in the days leading up to a protest, the BBC reported on 16 September, 1986.

"We're refusing all conjugal rights until Friday night after the march, in the hope that a few early nights will give our husbands extra strength to go further and faster in the march," said Jane Ware from Little Wymondley in Hertfordshire.

The demonstration was held after a bypass around the village was delayed, with Mrs Ware's husband Richard saying through-traffic had "grown to a level of obscenity".

Patience was required on both counts, as the A602 bypass – between Hitchin and Stevenage - was finally completed six years later in 1992.

The story was covered on London Plus, the BBC's regional news programme for the south east of England.

Did you live in the village at the time? Click here to tell us your memories of the protest.

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