Residents call for action over 'rat run'

A 40-signature petition has been collected calling for more police along a Caister road, which residents say is being used as a “rat run” by drivers.

Villagers in Roman Way say they are fed up with parents on the school run using their road to bypass traffic lights at the top of the High Street near Lidl, to get to Caister First and Middle Schools.

The situation has been exacerbated by the fact Roman Way is “access-only” for residents to get to their homes, but those behind the petition say it is being used by non-residents as well.

Resident Joe Thomas, 72, said the safer neighbourhood team (SNT) had visited the road, linking Norwich Road and Ormesby Road, a “couple of times” but wanted them to patrol more regularly, particularly before 9am when the school run was busiest.

He said: “We seem to have been ignored by the police and everybody else and it is still going on and it causes a lot of ill feeling and everything and it is like a racetrack at the start and end of the school day.”

Sgt Caroline Adams, of Rural Flegg SNT, said she had not received any calls in the last year concerning the traffic levels, but said police were liaising with a Roman Way resident, the parish council and road policing team to find a solution to the problem.

She said police had issued tickets and given verbal warnings to motorists using Roman Way illegally and pledged to bring the matter before the Key Individual Network (KIN) which sets the policing priorities for the neighbourhood.

“Our KIN meetings are held every quarter at Caister and it has never been brought to the meeting. However, one of our current priorities at the meeting is parking and we will endeavour to include the issue in Roman Way in this.”