RESIDENTS of Bittaford and Wrangaton are up in arms over motorists who treat the road through the two villages ‘like their own personal racetrack’.

The B3213, or ‘the old A38’ runs through both areas and motorists often fail to slow down for the relatively short stretches that are limited to 30 miles per hour.

Residents describe countless incidents of damage to parked cars, near misses and serious crashes ‘thanks to people driving too fast’ through the otherwise quiet villages. While they admit the problem is not new, they fear it will be exacerbated by the hundreds of new houses planned for the eastern end of Ivybridge, just down the road.

Wrangaton man George Beable said: ‘It’s really coming to a head now, as we’re getting all these new houses in Ivybridge, with all these new cars, but no new infrastructure.’

George, who is chair of Ugborough Parish Council, added: ‘We’ve pushed for money for a new road linking the A38 to the east of Ivybridge, and submitted a petition asking the developers to fund road improvements, but we didn’t get anywhere.

‘It is a fast road – it’s the old A38 – and personally I think there should be a 50mph limit.’

Local mum Angie Morgan is also calling for more to be done to deter speeding.

She submitted a 333-signature petition to South Hams Council in September calling on them to help make the road safer, and has set up a Facebook group called ‘Bittaford and Wrangaton are 30mph zones’.

She is collecting information on incidents in the villages, and intends to put in a freedom of information request to police to find out how many accidents there have been in the last 10 years.

The ideal for her would be to move the start of the 30mph zone further east from Bittaford, to encompass the village’s first houses, to have average speed cameras as a deterrent, and to have a proper crossing of the busy road.

She said: ‘The fact is, there’s nothing to deter people from speeding.

‘I sometimes think the parked cars are the only thing that are slowing people down.

‘I hate labelling people, but, to be honest, it’s the kids from Ivybridge, they treat it as their own personal racetrack.

‘Recently we had about a dozen lads burning up and down on motorbikes, even pulling wheelies, although the police were great and dealt with them very quickly.’

Neighbour Paula Long said that villagers’ cars are regularly ‘beaten up’ by passing vehicles.

She said: ‘Someone came round the corner about 18 months ago, and knocked the wall down at the end of our terrace and crashed into two parked cars. It was horrendous.

‘Our neighbour, Caroline, had just put the bins out, and the car hit as she stepped back inside. I’ve never seen her so shaken.

‘There have been several incidents just in the last 12 or 18 months, and we’re constantly losing wing mirrors.

‘If we had a speed camera, with all the fines it would accrue, it would pay for itself.’

However, with developers saying they are unable to fund improvements to the road network, it is unclear where money would come from to improve the lot of villagers.

George noted that when the parish council asked how much it would cost to move the 30mph sign a short distance down the road, it was told that £4,000.

Angie and her fellow residents are now taking matters into their own hands and setting up a community speedwatch scheme, with help from the police.

She said: ‘We’re prepared to get out there and do it ourselves.’