VILLAGERS are so worried a child may be run over in Monxton they are staging a special meeting with the police and Hampshire County Council.

"Not only are we rapidly witnessing the destruction of such a beautiful Hampshire village, but I and many others fear we will witness an untimely death," said Monxton resident Simon Ranger.

The village is considered one of Hampshire's most picturesque.

But the problem lies in its position. It is used as a 'rat run' by Ministry of Defence workers from the Defence Logistics Organisation.

Monxton roads are also used by visitors to the Hawk Conservancy.

The volume of traffic is not the only problem. The 30mph speed limit is too high according to many villagers.

"There are too many blind spots for the fast vehicles zooming past and it is slowly destroying our 400-year-old cottages," said Mr Ranger.

Mr Ranger says he has already spent £10,000 repairing damage caused to his property by traffic vibrations. The cottages have been built without foundations.

Another problem is lorries. Sometimes bigger than the cottages, they have to turn round once they realise they have taken the wrong turning.

An ancient chalk wall has been knocked several times. In advance of the meeting on Thursday, Hampshire County Council says it has been working with the parish council for a couple of years to develop traffic calming measures.

Stage one was completed a year ago and involved more speed limit signs and colour surfacing on the road. Stage two includes pinch-points.

The last speed checks carried out showed the average speed throughout the centre of the village was 22mph. But villagers said motorists slowed down deliberately for the checks.

The county council says it has put up additional signage off the A303 advising of a 12 ton weight limit for lorries.

"We're keen to hear the views of the parish council on how it feels these measures are going and will continue to work with the council to tackle the problems," the council spokesperson concluded.