Residents in a Witham town centre road whose lives have been blighted for years by heavy lorries and noise - now fear that improvements will turn their street into a high speed race track.

Contractors are soon to start resurfacing The Avenue, after totally remaking the road to cure years of pot holes and road break-up. But residents and their councillor are worried that once repairs are completed, their lives will then by blighted by speeding vehicles.

Cllr Barry Fleet, himself a resident in The Avenue, has written to Essex County Council highways engineers asking them to find a way round the problem.

"Far from wanting to see the back of the contractors, residents have found their lives transformed for the better since traffic has been closed off from the road," said Cllr Fleet.

"Now we want highways engineers to consider how potential new problems can be overcome. Residents in The Avenue have lived with one set of road problems for years and now fear the new road with its better surface, and yellow lines to keep parked cars off the street, will turn it into a race track.

Highways engineer for Essex County Council highways department, Mr Bob Button said this week that a traffic survey would be carried out in The Avenue, once the road was open again.

"We shall measure both the volume of traffic and its speed," he said.

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