KING'S Somborne villagers are angry at the way traffic- calming measures have been botched.

The parish council and villagers have been campaigning for years for improvements.

Work finally began on traffic-calming and road safety measures in September.

But they were due to start in July and villagers are furious because the work has still not been completed satisfactorily.

Parish council chairman David Bidwell described the work as 'incompetent project management by the county surveyor's department'.

Last week villager Alan Cooke pointed out that in two places the centre dotted white line was off-centre after workman widened the pavements.

It meant vehicles travelling south through the village were either forced dangerously close to the kerb or over the white line.

"I know of one person whose tyre was punctured when she hit the kerb," said Mr Cooke.

He said the situation was even worse when large lorries thundered through the village.

Tarmac on the widened pavement outside the church and school is rough and difficult to walk over in the dark and workmen have yet to replace the old crash barrier and railings.

On another stretch of the A3057 - either side of Old Vicarage Lane - the central white line last week had again been left askew where the road had been pinched by a new pavement, although the new tarmac has been properly finished.

The only indication drivers get at night of the newly-aligned road and pavements are some old bollards left behind by the workmen.

Workmen did complete a new lay-by on the other side of the road which has eased parking problems.

And new warning and speed limit signs have been installed along with rumble strips at each end of the village.

But Mr Cooke says villagers and the parish council are very unhappy with the way the work has been left unfinished and they argue that the road is more dangerous now than it was before the workmen started.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council said this week the old dotted white line through the village had now been burnt off, although no new lines had been painted.

She said: "We have impressed on the contractors the importance of doing this work as quickly as possible and we apologise to the villagers that it has taken longer than expected."

The work, including the new crash barrier and railings, would be completed as soon as possible.