VILLAGE leaders are staging a revolt over the escalating cost of a traffic calming scheme.

Marchwood Parish Council is refusing to increase its financial contribution, claiming it is being asked to foot the bill for mistakes made by another authority.

County highway chiefs instructed New Forest District Council to carry out extra work in the interests of public safety.

The installation of illuminated signs and additional bollards, plus repairs to grass verges, has resulted in the parish council being asked to pay an additional £5,000 towards the cost of the project.

Members of the planning committee condemned the increase and told the district council to think again.

Councillor Darryl Hindle said: "They slipped up and we're having to pay for it. I don't see why we should."

Council chairman Keith Petty said: "£5,000 is a drop in the ocean to the district but to us it's a phenomenal amount of money.

"I'm incredibly disappointed and feel we've been treated badly."

Marchwood parish and district councillor Graham Walmsley said that the new bill would devour the rest of the parish council's traffic-calming budget.

"We won't be able to do anything else for a long time,"

he said.

Former county councillor Alan Shotter said: "Hampshire County Council and the district council should pick up the extra cost, not the parish. The whole thing has been mismanaged from beginning to end."

The district council implemented the traffic-calming scheme on behalf of the county council, which agreed to fund half the cost of the chicanes.

A parish council spokesman said it was being told to contribute £15,478, compared with the previous figure of £10,652.

The district council confirmed that the price of the scheme had gone up.

A spokesman said: "The county council, as the highway authority, insisted that important safety specifications be included, which meant that extra costs have been incurred."

The county council said "essential works" arose during the work, pushing the final cost of the scheme up to £31,000.