FURIOUS villagers have launched a High Court bid after their local council re-routed lorries through the quaint Dorset hamlet causing up to 18 traffic jams a week.
Nicknamed the Village of the Jammed, residents of Melbury Abbas have raised thousands of pounds to take Dorset County Council to court over the controversial traffic scheme which they said has caused mayhem in their community.
Highway officials re-routed lorries through the small village to save the wear and tear of a nearby A-road, but the move regularly results in HGVs getting stuck along the narrow road.
The decision has outraged locals who say the strategy had led to chaos.
The space left for oncoming traffic using the 16 feet wide road is so narrow that even a Smart car struggles to squeeze through, and during jams police have had to close the road completely on 15 occasions to sort out blockages.
On one occasion, a HGV came to within just two inches of colliding with a Grade II listed property.
Erecting signs to note the hold ups, villagers have recorded over 1,400 jams lasting an average of 27 minutes, meaning motorists have lost over 630 lost hours waiting behind stuck lorries.
Residents of the hamlet, which has a population of just 300, are now planning to take the case to a judicial review in the High Court, claiming Dorset County Council has not considered the full extent of the impact on their picturesque village and that their views were ignored during a consultation process.
William Kenealy, chairman of Melbury Abbas and Cann Parish Council, said: "We thought the council would see sense and bin this scheme, we don't understand why they think this is a good idea.
"We have tried every avenue possible but now we are being forced to take them to court in the form of a judicial review in London.
"We hope the courts will agree with us and quash the decision, which will force the council to go back to square one. We're mystified as to why they would want to destroy our village.
"Pursuing the case has cost us about £5,000 out of our own pockets so far to cover legal fees, and will probably end up costing us another around £10,000 which we're hoping to raise through a CrowdJustice campaign."
Mr Kenealy added: "The road is so narrow that even a lorry and a car cannot pass each other and we've even seen fire engines and ambulances being blocked in and having to turn around.
"It's one thing to put a village at risk but this is potentially putting people's lives at risk."
A spokesman for Dorset County Council said they are continuing to monitor the situation but believe they are making the right decision.
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Councillor Daryl Turner, the council's cabinet member for the natural and built environment, said: "We will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that these new measures are having the desired effect.
"We are all in agreement that this option is the better solution at this point in time, but it is by no means the end of the story.
"We will continue to work with our neighbours in Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset councils to push for the need for a long-term solution for this A350 north-south route."
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