A community has called for action to crack down on speeding drivers using their road as a ‘rat run’ and potentially putting lives at risk.

Residents in Shay Lane, Tarvin are running out of patience with cars racing through their village at all hours, and fear the dozens of new housing developments in surrounding areas is only going to exacerbate the problem.

Andy Shaw-Pollard, of Tarvin Parish Council, who has lived on Shay Lane for 36 years, said the issue of speeding cars has always been a problem, but the catalyst came when a neighbour counted a total of nine cats being killed outside homes in recent months by speeding cars.

He fears that with the ongoing influx of housing developments in rural communities, something should be done about the situation before a person is killed.

“Speeding is the general problem, and has been all the time I’ve lived here,” he said. “It was made worse by Pryors Hayes Golf Club and now with the new houses in Tarvin, people are using Cross Lanes through Oscroft to get to Kelsall like a rat run - and there’s much more traffic.

“The council have been out to do a few surveys and confirmed there is a speeding problem in Oscroft - often cars go on the wrong side of the road to go left - it’s crackers. The village is just fed up.”

Dozens of residents attended a parish council meeting in August to express their serious concerns, and as a result of the meeting, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s highways department is now planning to carry out a formal assessment with a view to moving the Cross Lanes 30mph sign to the Tarvin side of the bridge as well as extend the 30mph area along Shay Lane.

Cllr Shaw-Pollard, who said the parish council had offered to pay the legal fees for getting the signs changed, added: “Something has to be done here. Someone could get run over, and it might not be a cat next time, so if we can save just one life then it’d be worth it.

“We now need to wait for highways to give us the way forward, and lead the way as to what we do next.

“The bottom line is, things just aren’t the same as they were 30 years ago. Houses get built, the number of children increases and that’s when the dangers start.

“This is a problem in every other village too - especially with all the recent housing developments. It’s my personal opinion that every village should be assessed as new houses are developed.

“It’s about giving people a reason to slow down and make them aware. We’re not causing a hoo-ha, but safety is paramount,” he said.