LORRY drivers are ignoring the weight limit on a narrow and steep road in Wroughton to use it as an unofficial diversion for the closed Marlborough Road, councillors say.

People living on Priors Hill have raised concerns for pedestrians using the route and said they can't access their own drives because of the increased traffic.

Marlborough Road is closed for three months to allow highway improvements linked to the Bellway Homes development and the installation of a service trench from the Inverary Road substation to the data centre in Brimble Hill.

Now councillors for the area say there have been several reported instances of HGVs disregarding the 7.5 ton weight limit.

Councillors Brian Ford, Cathy Martyn and David Martyn, along with South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland say they continue to receive a large number of messages from concerned residents throughout Wroughton who are being affected by the road closure.”

Coun David Martyn said: “Priors Hill remains a concern as it’s being used as an unofficial diversion route.

“This is a very steep, very narrow road which is single width in places, and without pavement for much of its length. The police have also raised their own concerns with Swindon Borough Council about safety issues arising from the increased traffic.”

He said they were awaiting further information about what can be done and they had asked that the contractors provide a weekly status report of progress against their project plan so that residents could be kept up to date with progress.

The police were also asked to intervene last week after the increase in drivers using the route.

On Facebook, Coun Cathy Martyn said there was a meeting with Sir Robert following concerns raised by residents who couldn’t access their drives and were worried about the safety of drivers and pedestrians.

She said: “We were concerned there would be chaos without additional measures being put in place, so we had previously requested additional signs to discourage drivers from using Priors Hill as an unofficial diversion, and staffed checkpoints at the top and bottom of the hill.”

Wiltshire Police said it would be sending a PCSO and contacting the borough council to discuss the situation.