A HOUSING estate in Basingstoke is being used as a “rat-run” because bus gates which were meant to be installed years ago have not been put in place.

Rooksdown Parish councillors fear there is a risk of a serious accident if traffic is not prevented from coming through the development.

A traffic survey revealed that the entrances and exits to Rooksdown are already at “saturation point”, raising concerns that houses being built in the area will make the problem even worse.

Council chairman Colin Statham told Rooksdown Parish Council’s annual meeting that the plans for gates that would only allow buses through, were never signed off by Hampshire County Council.

A resident at the meeting threatened to take action against future development if the traffic issue was not dealt with.

He said: “If they create extra traffic, it’s going to be a nightmare. If the council agree it and don’t do anything, we are going to galvanise people to oppose it.”

Cllr Statham accused the county council of not being informed about the situation, and added: “This is what’s scary – we have council officers who don’t know what planning permission has been given.”

Since the meeting, parish councillors have met with Taylor Wimpey and the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency to discuss the problem.

A joint statement said that the traffic survey conducted in February was agreed to “resolve long outstanding issues in construction of the planned bus gate at the location near Peggs Way on Park Prewett Road.”

It identified that on a typical weekday, 33 per cent of traffic along Park Prewett Road is non-resident traffic travelling to the hospital, 20 per cent is traffic entering from the A340 or A339 and leaving the estate within 15 minutes, and three per cent is non-residents going to Priestley Road. The balance is made up of residents.

The statement said: “This leads to a significant volume of trips which were never intended to use the estate roads.”

They concluded that installing a single bus gate at the authorised location might not prevent through-traffic, and could displace journeys to the northern part of Park Prewett Road. It was suggested that a solution could incorporate traffic control measures to deter through-traffic.

Taylor Wimpey’s highways consultants and Hampshire County Council (HCC) will now investigate a traffic management solution before a public consultation is held on the proposed plans. The work will be funded by Taylor Wimpey.

Hampshire County Council failed to respond to a Gazette request for comment.