DOZENS of residents are demanding action to put the brakes on speeding drivers – but authorities say there have not been enough accidents.

More than 50 people have signed a petition fearing it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed on their road in Hedge End.

Their calls come after figures revealed that on a typical day there are 3,888 cars using the road that are breaking the 30mph limit.

But authorities have dismissed their calls, saying it is not a priority because there have not been enough crashes.

Mike West, who is leading the campaign for traffic calming, told how he and other residents have been plagued by motorists hurtling along the 30mph road, using it as a rat run to and from the Grange Park estate.

Alongside noise, he is concerned that with children using Shamblehurst Lane South to get to Wildern School and an elderly population on the nearby mobile home site, an accident is inevitable.

The 48-year-old store supervisor has enlisted the backing of Eastleigh MP Mike Thornton, but says that Hampshire County Council is still refusing to act – despite putting traffic calming measures in place on nearby Wildern Lane, which was suffering the same problems.

Limited funds But council bosses say that they have limited funds, meaning that decisions on where to spend money are based on speed-related accidents and that the safety record for that stretch of road is good.

Mr West, who lives off Shamblehurst South, said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous – you have to have a certain number of accidents before they do something but surely it’s better to prevent it? Fifty people on a petition can’t all be imagining it.”

Mr Thornton said: “I think it is frankly a disgrace that the county council is ignoring residents on this safety issue, even when their own traffic survey shows there’s a problem.”

Councillor Seán Wood-ward, the council’s executive member for economy, transport and environment, said speed checks showed an average speed around 30mph but a small number of vehicles were travelling over the limit. He said this information had been passed to police.

He said with no history of speed related accidents, it was “difficult to see how traffic calming measures could be prioritised at this location against others across the county”.

Hampshire police said it was not aware of any previous complaints relating to Shamblehurst Lane South, though it was currently doing speed prevention work on a nearby road.