Furious locals dig 2ft trenches to stop ‘selfish’ tourists overrunning beauty spot

Angry locals have built ditches on the roadside of a beauty spot to stop “selfish” tourists parking after “horrendous” crowds brought a road to gridlock.

Holidaymakers have been parking up in Single Street, on the Suffolk coast, causing traffic congestion so local residents came up with the idea of the 2ft trenches.

It is claimed by one local woman that the tourist traffic can cause delays of up to 40 minutes on the single track lane.

Ellie Marshall, 20, a student from Ipswich, told The Sun Online: "It’s a lovely spot here for walking the dog and there is plenty of car parking space. But people can be quite selfish by parking along the roads which spoils it for everyone."

Long queues have been caused on the single-track road by people stopping (Eastnews Press Agency)

She added that she thinks the trenches will be positive if it means that tourists will realise not to park there.

The holiday hotspot is a few miles from the famous Sutton Hoo medieval settlement and the area was also used to shoot scenes in the 2019 film Yesterday, by Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle.

A residents’ association came up with the idea of the ditches, said a local woman.

She continued: "It can be horrendous at times and has taken us half an hour to get along to our house as it all gets blocked.

"They were dug earlier this summer after we all agreed it was a good plan."

There are signs by the road that say that it is private land and no parking (Eastnews Press Agency)

Locals have said that the congestion was worse last year and it has been put down to the poor weather this summer.

The woman added that it had been very difficult due to the number of people that had come to visit the area last summer during the lockdown.

She pointed out that when there is an accident it could take mean 40 minute delays.

The woman denied that she has anything against the tourists and said it is simply the fact that she wants to ensure access along the road.

A local student said that people are being "selfish" by parking up on the roadside (Eastnews Press Agency)

The ditches were built to reinforce the signs that state it is private land.

James Mallinder, East Suffolk council cabinet member for the environment, told the East Anglian Daily Times that parking on the verge had been a problem and caused the road to be blocked.

He asked for people to be considerate and said that tourism needed to be controlled so that it is not detrimental to the community and the environment.

At the same time, Suffolk Highways has said that they will investigate the digging of the trenches, which were done without its consent.

It has asked for no further work to take place.