Householders in a residential road at West End say cricket matches are making their lives hell.

Homes along West End Road have been subjected to noise and vibration from hundreds of coaches and buses on days when international matches are held at the Rose Bowl.

Residents have complained to councillor, Peter Humphreys, who will add the grumbles to his list of concerns about Hampshire County Cricket Club activities at the ground, on the edge of the village.

West End and Eastleigh councils are due to meet the club and the police on Wednesday, when a liaison group is to be set up to bridge a widening communication gap with some residents. Concerns include parking, congestion, noise and planning applications for larger facilities.

Steven Broomfield, the councillor who suggested the liaison group, said road congestion on match days would not be so bad if residents knew when big matches were to be played and he wondered if a newsletter could be organised. "Some sort of early warning system is needed," he said.

Criticism of the club reached a new pitch last Friday, with a storm of complaints from spectators, many of whom said it took them hours to reach the ground from the park and ride near Tesco, at Bursledon, because the shuttle bus service was too slow in heavy traffic.

Another West End councillor, David Goodall, said: "I'm not convinced the club has sorted out parking and getting everybody in and out. We haven't had enough consultation."

The park-and-ride buses that anger residents in West End Road are chartered by the club. Julie Cummins, who lives half-way up the steep road, said: "It drives me absolutely bonkers. You feel the house shake."

Further up, Margaret and Ben Wood described the nasty surprise they got after they moved into their house three months ago. "All of a sudden, we heard all the buses going by", Mrs Wood said. "We were wondering why. We knew it wasn't a bus route."

Mr Wood estimates that last Friday, when 16,000 spectators travelled to the Rose Bowl for the England game with Sri Lanka, there were 400 bus or coach journeys past his door.

The game was rained off, so thousands more fans travelled to the ground on the Saturday. "It's the noise level. They hit the trees overhead and there's the roar of their engines."

Like many other residents of West End Road, Mr and Mrs Wood insist the right route for the park and ride buses is not up and down their steep, winding and narrow road.

They want the shuttle service to use the M27 and the Charles Watts Way and Tollbar Way dual carriageways, past Sainsbury's on the Hedge End side of the motorway.

Ray and Sandra Peters blame vibration from buses and coaches for a crack which has appeared in their lounge wall. "They thud across the speed bumps," Mrs Peters complained.

Mr Peters, a retired oceanographic research engineer, said he was driven from the house last Friday and took refuge in his garden workshop.

Margaret Halladay-Waters is one of several pensioners in bungalows built down a steep slope. "They tear down the road," she said. "We're frightened they're going to come over and on to our bungalows."

Her neighbour, Violet Osborne, agreed. "This is like a motorway when they've got cricket on. This road used to be so nice and peaceful."

Rose Bowl spokeswoman, Jane Kerr, said the club took the complaints very seriously, particularly concerns about the safety of bungalow dwellers.

"The police have told me that all the buses are being monitored by their traffic motorcyclists," Miss Kerr said. "We use a number of different coach companies and they've all been asked to devise alternative routes to avoid congestion.

"We're extremely sorry. We've done as much as we can to make it as easy as possible for people in the area.

"Having been awarded the ICC Championship Trophy semi-final, we're also proud that this is coming to the South. It's a real coup for the region."

Meanwhile, residents have some respite-until April when the cricket season resumes.