Residents on a village road are demanding action to make it safer for drivers and pedestrians after several worrying incidents.

A teenager was grazed by a passing car and in the past two weeks a garden wall has been damaged and a heavy wooden post knocked over by traffic.

Other incidents on Meavy Lane in Yelverton include a vehicle pulling communication cables off a pole and walkers complaining about traffic driving too fast along the lane and nearly hitting them.

The residents are demanding 20mph speed limit signs are placed at the entrance to the Yelverton shopping parade and halfway along the residential stretch – at present there is only one sign towards the approach to the residential area at the opposite end to the shops.

Although there are speed humps designed to slow vehicles, drivers tend not to see them until it is too late. This is because the white triangle markings on the humps have worn off and drivers therefore hit them too fast.

The road is also dangerous for pedestrians because of a pavement that only runs on one side of the road and is split into two sections after swapping sides twice.

Walkers are therefore forced to cross the road twice to ensure they are on the pavement.

When the traditional raised pavement stops, walkers have the choice of crossing the road to the safer raised path, or staying on the same side to a more riskier alternative – a so-called virtual pavement.

The virtual version is delineated merely by a white line on the road, made even riskier by the white line wearing out, so as to be almost invisible. This makes it even more difficult for drivers to distinguish between road and pedestrian right-of-way.

Jean Jameson, of Meavy Lane, said: “I moved here two years ago, thinking it would be a nice quiet place in a village. But it’s not only turned out to be noisy with heavy traffic and big lorries going to the quarries, but also very unsafe.

“I’ve had my stone wall damaged by what appears to be a heavy vehicle, they left behind a pulled off number plate at the scene.

“And there’s been people’s communications cables pulled off a pole.

“We need safety improvements such as repainting the white lines for the speed humps and virtual pavements, more street lighting and more speed limit signs.

“Some drivers don’t seem to go slow enough for a narrow residential road and pedestrians just don’t feel safe when they have to cross the road, especially children walking to catch the bus to school in the dark.”

Near neighbour Linda Haston suggested a vehicle width limit be imposed to restrict lorries and a weight limit on Cadover Bridge (three miles further along on the lorry route) to deter them using the lane.

She said: “It’s too narrow for two lanes of traffic and, therefore, for the quarry lorries to share with pedestrians on a virtual pavement. Virtual pavements can give people a false sense of safety.”

A spokesperson for Devon County Council said: “There have been no police-recorded injury collisions at this location within the past five years.

“Traffic speeds on Meavy Lane were found to be compliant with the 20mph limit when last surveyed in 2020.

“A new speed survey can be arranged, and its results, along with these community concerns, will be reviewed by Devon County Council officers in partnership with the police. Our highways team will also review the concerns around road markings.”

Meanwhile, Jean is awaiting a response from her local MP Rebecca Smith and her borough councillor.