A KEY route into the village of Bilbrough on the outskirts of York is to be shut for up to a year to block the path of rat-running motorists trying to escape jams on the A64.

Villagers are also to be banned from going through the notorious gap in the dual carriageway central reservation at Bilbrough Top.

The experimental measures were agreed at an emergency meeting yesterday between North Yorkshire County Council highways engineers, the Highways Agency, the police and Bilbrough Parish Council.

Redhill Field Lane, which leads into the village from the eastbound A64, was first closed last Friday night after villagers complained that motorists avoiding jams caused by roadworks at Copmanthorpe traffic lights were causing terrible congestion and danger.

But at the weekend, drivers repeatedly removed the cones which had been placed across the road by police, and then caused gridlock in the village, said parish council chairman Sam Esler. When villagers tried to put the cones back, they were insulted by some motorists.

He said today that stronger, heavier barriers would now be placed across the road which could not be removed by motorists.

These would bar access into the village from the east bound carriageway and also from the westbound carriageway via the gap in the central reservation.

The barriers would also prevent villagers leaving the village and turning right through the gap to get to Leeds and the A1.

Mr Esler said that drivers on the eastbound carriageway would have to take a one-mile diversion to get into the village via the Buckles Inn.

Motorists on the westbound carriageway wanting to get to Bilbrough, and also villagers wanting to get to Leeds, would have to take a four-mile diversion via the York Outer Ring Road flyover.

Mr Esler said he anticipated some villagers would not be happy about the inconvenience of their longer journeys.

"But safety has to be the top priority," he said.

Updated: 11:05 Tuesday, September 25, 2001