Traffic calming measures will be looked at to tame a rat-run near four schools.

Councillors heard that cars speed along the residential streets of Beaconsfield Road and Beaconsfield Avenue in Dover.

Drivers use them as a short cut between the main routes of London Road and Barton Road.

Residents Dan Overal corr and Kelly Blackstock presented a 118-signature petition to Dover District Council calling for speed restrictions.

They spoke at the scrutiny (policy and performance) committee.

Mr Overal said: “We had a resounding response to the petition from neighbours.

“One commented: ‘That’s one way to stop continuous road rage and broken mirrors.’

“Another said ‘Some cars pass dangerously down these roads. It’s scary’.

“Ideally, we’d like to put up signs at each end of the route and have speed cushions.”

Ms Blackstock told the committee: “There are lots of schools in the area and a 24-hour care home. Two to three people nearly got run over once. We just want your support.

“I spoke to St Edmund’s (RC school) and St Richards’s (primary) and they said they would support our petition.”

The other two nearby schools are Charlton Primary and Dover Grammar School for Girls.

Both the petitioners and members of the council agreed that all the nearby schools should be asked to send letters of recommendation for action to Kent County Council.

Cllr Ben Glayzer told the petitioners. “We need to be supportive as a council. A total 118 signatures is fantastic so I’m with you all the way. A lot of people in this room are supportive of your efforts.”

Committee chairman Kevin Mills said: “It is a rat-run. All we are looking or is some kind of calming.” But he believed that the council needed to look at speeding and traffic calming in the wider area.

The committee agreed to ask officers to provide a report on the problem for its next meeting on Tuesday, October 10, and possible traffic calming solutions.

They also agreed to invite the area’s county councillors, Nigel Collor and Pauline Beresford, to the meeting to also discuss it.