RESIDENTS on the Ridgeway Farm estate are fearing plans to close a road could lead to their quiet streets becoming a through road for lorries and HGVs.

Wiltshire council is currently holding a consultation on plans to close a stretch of Purton road south of the estate from Washpool Road to the buffer.

The alternative routes for traffic coming off the A4198 will be Cowleaze road and the buffer road going through the middle of the estate and past Ridgeway Farm Academy.

John Morgan, who lives on Cob Hill close, told the Adver: “Everybody in the vicinity is really concerned about the traffic route. It’s the volume of traffic it’s going to generate down by the school.

“The volume of traffic is increasing by the day. There’s dozens of children walking down the street every day, there’s going to be an accident.

Other vented their frustration on the Ridgeway Farm Facebook group.

Victoria Furze wrote: “I'm on Upper Mill and worried about cars cutting through past the school and the park. I know the speed limit will be 20mph but I think the traffic coming through will definitely increase.”

The plans will also introduce a series of measures to alleviate the problems of extra traffic, including 20mph speeds limits, no waiting signs, weight and height limits, as well as a pedestrian crossings.

Concerns about traffic around Purton and Lydiard Millicent were raised five years ago when plans for the 700 houses on the estate were submitted by developer Taylor Wimpy Oxfordshire.

Coun for Lydiard Millicent Sarah Wheeler said: "Squeezing more homes in here, where there are only narrow rural roads, without putting in place the necessary infrastructure, was always going potentially to create more problems. This is one of the reasons why there was so much opposition locally to Taylor Wimpey’s development in the first place."

Householders at the junction of Stone Lane experienced the fourth car to crash into their gardens last May and the destruction of road signs by HGVs.

A spokesperson for Lydiard parish council said: "We are trying to set up a meeting with all parties concerned so we know exactly what the proposals are and so we can make an informed decision."