ANGRY residents of a Winchester street say they feel betrayed by their councillors over plans to seal off a city centre run.

The proposed scheme would see traffic direction reversed on Parchment Street, which links North Walls to St George's Street, in a

bid to cut down traffic levels and reduce pollution.

However, people living on residential roads near Parchment Street fear Winchester

City Council's plans will backfire on them because drivers will start using their streets instead.

Now residents living on one of the roads most likely to inherit the traffic, Middle Brook Street, have signed a declaration addressed to the council, saying history shows that when Parchment Street shuts, cars will divert to their road.

They are also threatening legal action against the authority if their views and concerns are not listened to before the Parchment Street scheme comes into effect.

In a signed declaration to the city council's director of development services Robin Cooper, Middle Brook Street resident Julia Emsley says that when Parchment Street was last shut off to traffic - for traffic-calming measures installed during the 1990s - the effect on her own road was substantial.

She says: "While Parchment Street was closed, there was a significant increase in

traffic and congestion on Middle Brook Street.

"Apart from the noise, the fumes from the stationary vehicles made the air in the area very unpleasant to breathe.

"I was concerned about the effects of the

traffic and pollution on the safety and well-being of my young children, and during this period did not let them out of my house unsupervised."

Another Middle Brook Street resident, Chong-Yee Khoo, said he feels councillors should listen to Ms Emsley's views, as she has direct experience of the problem.

He said: "The evidence from the declaration shows that that traffic flow, congestion, noise and pollution will increase.

"Despite this, the council seems hell-bent on pursuing this ill-thought out plan.

"We are particularly concerned that all three of the local councillors for this ward support this proposal.

"We believe that our elected representatives should put their efforts into supporting measures that would benefit all the residents of this ward."

However, a spokesman for the council insisted the plans for Parchment Street were only experimental.

If it was unsuccessful, the scheme could be abandoned.

The spokesman added that reducing pollution was vitally important, and that there were other ways traffic could be managed, on both Parchment Street and Middle Brook Street, which still had to be looked into.