AN EXPERIMENTAL ban on drivers leaving and entering a housing estate during certain hours will not end until at least July - despite a petition from residents to stop it.

A 12-month traffic order preventing motorists from turning into Queensfield from Cricklade Road between 7.30am and 9.30am Monday to Friday and turning out of Queensfield on to Cricklade Road between 4.30pm and 6.30pm Monday to Friday started on February 20.

It followed what some residents said was a 15-year wait for action to stop Queensfield, Duchess Way and Hathaway Road being rat runs for commuters.

But some residents say there are other solutions, such as linking Crompton Road with Hyde Road, and handed in a petition containing more than 400 signatures, calling for the ban to be immediately suspended.

Swindon Council has agreed to keep the order in place to allow data collection to continue. On July 20, officers will review the data in consultation with ward members so that an informed decision can be made.

Nigel Wood, 66, of Hathaway Road, who signed the petition, said: “I’m disappointed that they didn’t immediately cover the signs up to suspend it and agree they’re going to look into a relief road from Crompton Road into Hyde Road.

“I do see where Queensfield residents are coming from, having too many vehicles passing through a primarily residential area. But the alternative is putting the traffic on other people in Cricklade Road and that’s totally unfair.”

Ramon Vickery, 73, of Queensfield, said the council was going against the majority of residents by not suspending the order, adding that another petition with more than 200 signitures, asking for the same thing, was also presented to the counci last week.

He said: “One lady lives right close to the exit to Cricklade Road and her daughter lives in Penhill. She has got to go all the way around to Beechcroft to go to Penhill. And the shop relies on people calling for cigarettes, newspapers, food, and people come over from Penhill, so he is losing trade.”

Peter Greenhalgh, Swindon Council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “The reason why we want to get the data is because only having a short period doesn’t really allow us to get adequate data in order to put an issue to bed.

“The Queensfield issue has been bouncing across my desk for many years and one of the duties of looking at a problem from a cabinet member perspective as oppose to a ward member perspective is we have to look at potentially what the wider impacts will be.

“It’s easy for people to argue one way or another but without the actual data it’s very difficult to make a binding decision which will allow something, or indeed nothing to happen.”