VILLAGERS living on the outskirts of Darlington have questioned a “bizarre” decision to add national speed limit signs to a narrow road bordered by a village green on one side and a row of houses on the other.

Residents living in Summerhouse, Killerby, and Denton, were perplexed when signage indicating drivers should be travelling at 60mph were added to the heart of the three communities.

But Darlington Borough Council traffic managers have argued that the joint-operation between the authority and the police has simply been a task to clear up confusion over existing speed limits.

However the new additions to the trio of communities all linked by a national speed limit stretch of the B6279 have contradicted a campaign to reduce the speed limit of the main route between the villages down to 50mph.

Yvonne Stonehouse, parish chair for Summerhouse, said: “It’s causing a problem because the residents are really annoyed about it.

“The day after they went up I sent an email to the council asking why they’d been put up.

“I asked them to explain why they’d been put there when we’re waiting for a 50mph sign to go up further down the road.

“I’m already waving people down to go slower because it’s only one lane traffic along here, with cars parked along one side and the village green is on the other.

“Children play on that green and there’s no street lighting – it’s just dangerous. We can’t understand it at all, it’s bizarre really.”

Darlington Borough Council workers erected the national speed limit signs on Wednesday, May 11, but 50mph restrictions are expected to be enforced along the adjoining B6279 as early as next month.

Heighington and Coniscliffe ward councillor, Councillor Gerald Lee, quizzed his own colleagues over the new signs that contradict ongoing council efforts to slow motorists down on the road linking the three villages.

Councillor Lee said: “It’s absolutely crazy for these roads to be national speed limit.

“We have a ludicrous situation now and what makes it more nonsensical is that the road it joins with is going to have its speed limit reduced from 60mph to 50mph.

“It’s not a mistake and this operation has been going on for a long, long time.”

In a response to Councillor Lee’s questions seen by The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council traffic manager, Ken Major, stated that the signs were being put up across the town on roads previously lacking clear traffic regulations.

Mr Major said: “We have agreed to review these locations where road users think they are driving within a 30mph area but are actually only in a national speed limit area.

“It will be a site specific review which may lead to the creation of 30mph in these circumstances rather than maintaining the national speed limit.

“We will need to do speed surveys to convince the police that 30mph will be the appropriate speed limit, these surveys will be started shortly.”