Costly engineering work designed to protect the verges of a narrow country lane and to improve safety for drivers has only added to the highway problems on the route, according to a local landowner, writes Victoria Clark.

Over the winter, Capita dbs carried out £65,000 of work to install kerbs on several stretches of Hollins Lane - which leads from the A6 north of Kendal to Burneside - in a bid to prevent verges being eroded and to discourage speeding on the route regularly used by lorries and cars as a rat-run to avoid Kendal's town centre.

As part of the work carried out on behalf of Cumbria County Council, signs were also added to warn drivers that the road was narrow ahead.

But, according to Edward Acland, who owns land adjoining the road, HGVs are now mounting the new kerbs to pass each other, tipping up in the process and leaning into the adjacent hedges and fences, which were being damaged as a result.

He highlighted the problem at the latest county council South Lakeland area committee meeting, telling councillors the work had "failed quite dismally".

Mr Acland, who drew the committee's attention to the need for work to protect the verges in February 2000, said: "People were pleased that at long last something was getting done about it, but not only has it failed to address the problem, in some parts it has made the situation worse."

In response to Mr Acland's plea for remedial action to be taken, a statement prepared by Stuart Pate, area support manager, was read out to the committee, which stated that raised kerbing was the only practical way of protecting the verges.

It read: "There is consequently no intention to modify kerbing work undertaken.

I accept that concern has been expressed by some motorists about the nature of the kerbing.

This is common initially when such work is undertaken, and previous experience suggests that motorists will modify their behaviour."

The statement added the county council remained concerned about the volume of vehicles using the road, and more work was planned for 2002/03 to protect the verges and discourage speeding, as well as implementing a ban on HGVs using the route.

Former county councillor Mr Acland said he was extremely disappointed with the answer he was given, adding: "I was hoping for a response which at least showed some recognition of the problem."

He added people in the area had been waiting for several years for a HGV ban to be enforced, and said that to spend any more public money on the road would be irresponsible, if it did not achieve what it set out to.

Instead he suggested that boulders were installed between the kerb and the verge to prevent vehicles mounting the kerb - a ploy which has worked elsewhere on the lane.