RESIDENTS in a north Hull street have launched a petition after the council denied them a dead-end sign.

Drivers mistakenly believe they can access Beverley High Road via Dunkeld Drive.

Queues are forming in the cul-de-sac, causing disruption for residents.

A request was made to Hull City Council for a dead-end sign, which residents believe would solve the problem.

However, a senior Guildhall official responded in an e-mail, seen by the Mail, by stating "a sign should not be erected as this may create a demand for similar signs throughout the estate, which may lead to a proliferation of signs".

Barbara Maddison, who has lived in the street for 12 years, said: "It is getting worse. Some days, we get big container lorries coming along the road.

"They are too big to turn around, so they are having to reverse.

"Big queues often form."

Mrs Maddison said she is not impressed with the council's reasoning for refusing a sign.

"It sounds a ridiculous reason to me," she said.

Ward councillor Dave McCobb, who has been asked to take up the case by residents, said he has seen the problem for himself.

He said: "Driving down Downfield Avenue, it looks as though you can carry on along Dunkeld Drive to get on to Beverley High Road. On realising they can't do this, drivers are having to turn around. Queues form and it is disturbing a lot of people.

"There are a lot of bungalows in this cul de sac and many of them are inhabited by the elderly."

Both Mr McCobb and fellow ward councillor Karen Mathieson have contacted Hull City Council to find a solution, without success.

Mr McCobb said: "This has been a problem for some time.

"I can remember my driving instructor taking me down here to prove a point.

"Residents believe the problem can be easily fixed simply by installing a 'dead end' sign, which would alert drivers.

"But council officers, in an e-mail, have told me they can't provide a sign because they think it would spark a flurry of requests from other streets.

"What kind of response is that? It sounds like red tape to me."

Ms Mathieson said she was also unhappy with the council's response.

She said: "The argument that Dunkeld Drive can't have a dead-end sign because demand for these signs in other streets will shoot up is nonsense.

"Simple street signs like this are essential in many places.

"The whole thing is bureaucratic bean-counting gone mad."

Ms Mathieson said: "There is a clear demand for a dead-end sign in this road.

"It is so infamous that driving instructors take people to the road to point out the mistake most drivers make.

"I will, of course, continue to work with local residents to try to get the sign installed."