A total of 350 Witham residents have signed a petition appealing for heavy lorries to be kept out of Bridge Street.
They want the county highways authority and the local council to enforce the existing regulations banning vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from using Bridge Street to reach the high street and town centre.
Emma Risley, from Alfred Cottages, gathered names from a dozen streets surrounding the area and found almost everyone shared her concerns.
"This area is so lovely," she said. "It is such a shame it is ruined by pollution and traffic. How can people sit in the park and enjoy the quiet with traffic speeding past?"
Witham Town Council has appealed to the police to enforce the signs which are already in place to remind drivers of the weight limit. But they were told it was impossible to enforce the rule without having an officer standing by the road all the time.
Colin Tracey, area highways manager, admitted he had received numerous complaints about vehicles through Bridge Street ignoring the weight limit signs.
It was a difficult matter, he said. The police had provided some additional enforcement.
There was so much dissatisfaction over the nuisance caused by the lorries that he is considering strengthening the old cast iron Sauls bridge so that heavy vehicles could approach the town from the Maldon Road.
He hoped that the work could be done by the next financial year.
The petition is due to be discussed by Witham Town Council's planning committee next Tuesday.
Published Friday, January 17, 2003
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