ANGRY residents have threatened to barricade all roads leading into their village unless Darlington Borough Council and the police tackle the traffic chaos.

Local people are prepared to close off Sadberge, near Darlington, during rush hour to draw attention to the number of cars and lorries using the village as a "rat run" since the A66 slip road was built in 2002.

Villagers say the roads have become dangerous, with motorists flouting the 30mph speed limit and weight limits, and traffic-calming measures proving ineffective.

At a meeting on Thursday evening, resident Keith Wharrier said it was time to take some direct action.

"We have been down this road before and all our comments to the council or police will fall on deaf ears," he said.

"Action is what we need now. We have talked about closing the village off for rush hour - let's do it and draw some attention to this problem."

Police said they are aware of the increase in traffic, particularly along Middleton Lane.

Michael Straugheir, of the police traffic management department, said: "A legitimate protest is a valid way of demonstrating their strength of feeling, but if people start obstructing the highway, it is an offence."

The meeting was called so villagers could give their views to parish council chairwoman Millie Scaife about the traffic problems.

She will write to Halcrow, a company commissioned by Highways Agency contractor A-one, to undertake a survey on the effectiveness of the village's traffic-calming measures.

Resident David Brown said there needede to be bumps or chicanes to slow traffic down.

He said: "It is a rat run through here for people and it has become dangerous.

"We should be able to get out of our driveways without taking our lives in our hands."

Borough councillor Brian Jones agreed to set up a site meeting with a traffic management officer and Mike Baxter, the council's road safety principal engineer, to discuss the problem.

A council spokesman said work on Hill House Lane, Sadberge, to discourage speeding was imminent, with the addition of more signs and red road markings.