A GROUP of York residents are prepared to stop traffic by forming a human chain across a busy road - unless the council resurfaces it.

Householders in Wetherby Road, Acomb, say they have been forced to consider taking direct action as their lives are being made a misery by heavy trucks thundering past their homes.

They claim the road surface cannot cope with the volume and weight of traffic which causes their homes to vibrate.

The Evening Press has previously reported that Amanda Potter, 30, was woken up at 5am every day by speeding trucks. She even invited a council officer into her home so he could assess how badly her bed vibrated when the trucks went by.

Miss Potter and her neighbour, Jenny Keenan, organised a residents' petition demanding that City of York Council resurfaces the road and imposes speed restrictions.

But if that fails, Miss Potter says they will all park on the road simultaneously to slow traffic and even block it completely by linking arms across it.

"The council doesn't think it's a problem," she said.

"I would be up for blocking the road if it came to it - everybody is fuming. We need to get the council to take notice."

Mrs Keenan said: "The council has never done anything to change it from a quiet rural road to what it is now. It's dreadful."

The residents' petition was handed into yesterday's full council meeting by Acomb councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing.

"Let's be honest, the residential area of Wetherby Road was never built for the traffic loads it is experiencing," she said.

"All residents are asking for is that speed restrictions are regarded and possible physical measures are looked at to reduce speed and thus vibration," she said.

But Fred Isles, road maintenance manager, said the council had already spent thousands of pounds on improving Wetherby Road.

"They can grumble and complain about these things all they want, but we've got a finite budget and choices have to be made," he said.

"Any sensible person can see that the road is not unsafe. It meets our specifications."

Updated: 10:49 Wednesday, November 12, 2003