Kingston residents plagued by drivers fighting outside their homes have said they fear for their children's safety as rat-running traffic clogs their street. Locals have slammed Kingston Council for installing a bollard preventing cars from using a neighbouring road.

Residents on Thornhill Road said traffic had "massively increased" on their road as drivers started using it instead of Tolworth Road because of the bollard, which is part of plans for a low-traffic neighbourhood in the area. They said furious drivers had got out of cars to argue after becoming stuck due to the congestion

Pollution and noise also meant they couldn't open their windows in the heatwave. When the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited the road, drivers could be heard shouting at each other.

The residents are calling for a bus gate to be installed on the road, which has a bus stop at each end, but this has been opposed by neighbouring streets over fears it will just push traffic towards them. Alex Oakes, who lives on Thornhill Road, said: "When they put in that scheme they knew they had to put in a bus gate here because they knew it would increase the traffic." 

He said: "I didn't expect the council to take the decision to basically push more traffic onto my road when I moved here, knowing it would have an impact and, to be frank, I've got a three-month-old baby and it's not somewhere I want to bring up my child so unless they do something about it we'll move." 

The 33-year-old added: "We've had people in the street fighting because no one gives way and to be fair it's actually hard to see where you give way because where I live… it's quite a long narrow section with a bus stop on each end and you have to go through it and then people get stuck. So we have people swearing, people getting out of cars."

Kingston Council's plans for low-traffic areas has increased congestion significantly on Thornhill Road (Image: Alex Oakes)

Liz Mitchell, who lives on Thornhill Road, said residents' cars had been written off and their wing mirrors broken, while they couldn't open their windows during the heatwave because of the noise and pollution. The mum-of-two said: "The aggro in people is awful… the guys on Tolworth say they have seen blood on the street because people have been that aggro because they can't get their car through."

She said: "It's horrendous, the speeding is awful, it's dangerous, because every child that goes to school this side of the A3 crosses our road." She added: "My kids are 13 and 16, they ride their bikes to school, the part that I'm concerned about their journey is crossing my road when they leave the house… it's just ludicrous." Neighbour Lewis Lloyd, 61, added: "When it's full-on term-time and it's in rush hour it's really chaos out here."

Council data from November 2021 compared to January and March this year shows an increase in traffic on some roads after the bollard was introduced, mainly on Thornhill Road.

Ms Mitchell has petitioned the council to put mitigations in immediately to make the road "safe for pedestrians and cyclists" as the proposals are "hanging in the air". But a petition against the proposal from neighbouring streets has gained 679 signatures.

Natasha Olaniyan, who lives on Ellerton Road, said: "It's a huge concern for parents – the safety of the children. Our roads are also not wide enough to take that level of traffic and I know Thornhill have been struggling with wing mirrors being broken on a regular basis. Obviously their concern is to stop the traffic on their road but obviously the answer isn't just to push it onto the side roads – it's to direct it onto the main roads."

She added: "We're asking for it to be looked at collectively and from my perspective it's been looked at as individual problems." 

Lizzie Rae, who is moving out of Ellerton Road, said: "It just sounds like… they're changing it and it's not really solving the problem it's just putting somewhere else."

The 68-year-old said: "There's a lot of young families that have moved into this street, the people who are buying our house are a young family, I brought my family up here for 36 years… and there's schools close by, it's really nice community streets and I think people really don't want anything that endangers that."

More meetings will be held on the mitigation options after a Surbiton neighbourhood committee meeting last week. Another report will be presented to the committee in September.

Councillor Ian Manders, portfolio holder for sustainable transport, said in a statement that the council would offer locals another chance to get involved in a residents' monitoring group to discuss options for "a wider neighbourhood solution".

He said: "Kingston Council is committed to working with local communities to find sustainable solutions to address climate change and protect our environment. Our low traffic neighbourhood schemes are designed to help shape our streets to be pleasant spaces where people can breathe cleaner air, walk or cycle safely and feel more connected to our community.

"Since the introduction of the experimental closure on Tolworth Road, traffic displacement on surrounding roads has been highlighted by some residents and in our monitoring. A report was presented to a meeting of the Surbiton neighbourhood committee on 19 July.

"There was consensus from residents of several roads who spoke at the meeting that there was a need for a wider solution regarding the "through" traffic driving through the area to other destinations. Councillors welcomed the residents' thoughtful approach to the issues.

"Councillors agreed to continue to work with residents on potential mitigation measures. It was also agreed to continue discussion with TfL, to determine whether it is legally possible to close the northward direction lane of Fullers Way North, at its junction with the A3, on an experimental basis. A report will be provided to the Surbiton neighbourhood committee meeting on 20 September 2022."