A man paid £8,000 to turn his road into the 'shortest in the country with speedbumps' in a pursuit to crack down on reckless drivers in his area.
Adrian Kent and his neighbours decided they collectively had enough of people hurling down their private dirt road which is not looked after by their local council. His grandchildren had become too scared too play outside and residents had been repeatedly hit by stones flicked up by fast-moving vehicles, the Mirror reports.
A car window had also been damaged by the stones. Huge transporter lorries have even been spotted hurtling along the narrow private street in Whitstable, Kent, according to the enraged residents.
So along with a neighbour, Mr Kent paid £8,000 for new speedbumps to be put along the just over 100-yard stretch of road. The 65-year-old split the bill with another resident for tarmac and speedbumps to be laid on the previously dirt road, which homeowners are responsible for maintaining.
But the DIY ramps failed to stop motorists from speeding through the 5mph zone at speeds of up to 40mph.
Residents have been joking about the seemingly excessive measure, with one on Facebook posting: "Is the shortest road in the country with speed bumps?"
Another laughed: "Must have a councillor living in the street".
Despite the cost of the deterrents racking up to £8,000, Mr Kent thought the way people responded was amusing.
He said: "It's quite funny when you think about it. Maybe I could enter the Guinness Book of Records."
Despite the laughs, another resident jumped to his defence and praised him for taking action.
She said: "We live close-by and have witnessed, prior to these changes to the road layout, two or three occasions where delivery drivers have nearly hit the children from Swalecliffe Primary School as they walk home. The road was often used as a cut-through and was becoming more dangerous by the day.
"I can only thank the homeowners for making this safer for the children and other pedestrians at their own expense."
When Mr Kent moved to the area four years ago he thought motorists would respect the road is unofficial and drive to its conditions, but he said he was proven wrong.
He added: "People were happy to tear down it at 30mph to 40mph. A neighbour's car window was smashed by stones flicking up and some of the stones are quite big.
"We've even had a car transporter through here. We moved here in 2018 and by 2019 we thought we would try to do something about it. I thought if we were to repair it we would do a permanent surface so we decided to put the bumps down. We spoke with the neighbours and they agreed but they weren't interested in paying."
But after installing the tarmac and the speedbumps, Mr Kent admitted it was a waste of time and money. The final straw came when a cement mixer hit one of the bumps and spilt its load all over the street, leaving Mr Kent with a two-hour cleaning operation.
Since this set-back he blocked off part of the road with planters, and for the past 18 months Kent County Council Highways, the fire service and police have raised no objections.
The planters have been a success, he said: "It's lovely and quiet now, but the amount of traffic coming down here was quite something before. I had the feeling people liked driving on the dirt road - especially the young guys.
"It has given us long-term stability over the road surface and it is safer."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
