ANGRY Eastleigh residents are blaming a "missing" seven-yard stretch of double yellow lines for causing traffic mayhem in their busy residential street.

Earlier this week a driver left her car on the unmarked stretch of Toynbee Road near The Crescent Primary School.

But because another car was parked in a bay directly opposite, lorries trying to get to the British Bakeries premises and the Jewson yard were unable to get by.

"We had five policemen and a patrol car looking for the driver and the traffic was tailed back on to Leigh Road," said Toynbee Road resident David Downhill.

"Nobody could get in or get out of Toynbee Road and the traffic wasn't moving on Leigh Road either. In the end they found the driver in one of the offices in Leigh Road. But it was mayhem for about an hour and a half.

"When they resurfaced the road last year they did the yellow lines - but they stop outside the school."

Neighbour Lynne Furnell warned: "There is going to be a serious accident involving a child one day on this road."

Mr Downhill and Mrs Furnell agree that the main problem facing residents in the road is heavy goods vehicles trundling to and from industrial premises.

But they are now calling for the council to fill in the missing gap in the double yellow lines.

Mrs Furnell said: "My husband has written to the council constantly about the traffic problems but they say there are no problems."

Mr Downhill said that even though Eastleigh council was pledging to remove HGVs from Toynbee Road, hundreds of new homes built on the industrial sites would make the volume of traffic even worse.

Police confirmed that a car parked on the missing link of double yellow lines had caused problems - but said they were over in less than half an hour.

A police spokesman said: "It was bedlam for about 20 minutes. The problem was that nothing was illegally parked. We had to find the owner of the vehicle and ask them to move it."

Mr Downhill said: "The whole road needs looking at but in the meantime we want this section double-yellow lined. If there is a traffic jam down here and there is a fire at the bakery how are they going to get a fire engine through?"

Hampshire County Council confirmed that they had undertaken resurfacing in part of Toynbee Road and the operation had covered the double yellow lines.

A spokesman added: "When the county contractor went back to repaint the lines it wasn't possible to complete the task because vehicles were parked there. An urgent order has been issued for the missing length to be repainted."