The leader of Devon County Council has assured village residents it is continuing to work to try to alleviate chronic parking problems.

Cllr John Hart said DCC was still looking at the problems in Lee Mill Bridge to try and find a solution, after a resident said she thought the matter had been abandoned.

Residents have faced long running issues, with growing numbers of cars parked on residential streets, as well as high volumes of traffic passing through.

The small community, just west of Ivybridge is neighbour to an industrial estate as well as a vast Tesco Extra supermarket, both accessed from the Plymouth direction via residential Plymouth Road.

But it is parking that is locals’ real bugbear, with pressure on the number of spaces, particularly at evenings and weekends. Residential parts of Plymouth Road and New Park Road are narrow, but double yellow lines and traffic calming on the former, as well as a pub redevelopment into multiple flats, have also been blamed for exacerbating the problem.

In late 2015 a public meeting was held to address the problem, chaired by MP Gary Streeter and attended by more than 40 residents and repesentatives of Sparkwell, South Hams district and Devon county councils including DCC chairman John Hart, who represents the Bickleigh and Wembury division that includes Lee Mill.

But now residents say assurances made at that meeting about what action would be taken to address the problem have come to naught. Solutions suggested included the removal of the traffic calming chicane on Plymouth Road, which was thought to be ineffective, and permitting on street parking instead, which may also cause traffic to slow down.

There was also a suggestion of approaching the owner of a nearby piece of land, subsequently found to be housing provider DCH, to see if residents could use the land for parking

A residents only parking scheme was also popular among those at the meeting, though Cllr Hart said a further meeting and vote would be needed to get it, and it would also involve an annual cost to drivers.

Despite further meetings, in June resident Wendy Jamieson contacted the Gazette, telling us: "Despite having chased this matter tirelessly via both Gary Streeter and John Hart, I am sorry to report that, not only has nothing whatsoever been done, but, as the matter stands, nothing is going to be done."

But Cllr Hart stressed the matter was still being looked at, and said things had become more complex. He said: “There is undoubtedly a lack of parking for residents in this area, and following a meeting with residents in April there are now widespread concerns about through traffic, including lorries in New Park Road exceeding the speed limit, and this needs to be looked at.

“For this reason some of the solutions that have been suggested, which include removing yellow lines and chicanes to create more on-street parking space, would not be supported by Devon Highways.

“The council has contacted the land owners of the nearby green to explore the possibility of creating an over flow parking area for residents.

“Simply there are too many cars for too few spaces and there are no easy solutions to this problem.

“Nothing has been decided and we are continuing to look at this and find a solution.”

Mrs Jamieson noted that in correspondence with Cllr Hart earlier this year, he had said DCH had not responded to the overtures regarding the potential car parking site, and Sparkwell Parish Council was now writing to the organisation about the safety of trees on the land.

She said: "My comment, and the overall feeling among Lee Mill residents, is that we are being fobbed off. The DCC have had since November 2015 to explore the solutions generated by residents at the public meeting. One has been discounted - removal of yellow lines - and the other has been dragging on without resolution for far too long.

Mr Streeter also urged the county council to continue to work to find a solution. He said: "This is a tough problem to solve and I know DCC are looking at it.

"I would encourage them to devote more energy and urgency to it. The people of Lee Mill have been very patient."