RESIDENTS and councillors took to the roadside with placards last night, to protest against speeding motorists being diverted from the M5 on to the A38, who residents say have caused them months of sleepless nights.

The traffic has been diverted as part of the M5 smart motorway scheme between junctions 4a and 6.

But when both north and southbound lanes are closed during the night, bringing six lanes of traffic on to the single carriageway, residents say the noise is a “nightmare”, meaning they can’t even open their bedroom windows on warm nights.

Bromsgrove District Councillors Christopher Bloore and Michael Thompson joined four residents of Redditch Road on the roadside near Webbs garden centre to ask late-night drivers to slow down.

Using a thumb counter, the group counted 1,200 vehicles on the road between 11pm and 12pm on Wednesday, July 27.

Redditch Road resident Alan Pugh, 60, claims at least 80 per cent of these were HGVs.

He said: “We have had 26 nights of near continuous closures. What brain of Britain sorted that out I don’t know. It’s just getting to the point know where it’s just getting ridiculous. There is constant noise from hundreds of trucks going on a single carriage way.

“There are old cottages on this road that are shaking at their foundations and Highways England aren’t doing anything to relieve our problems.

“We’re responsible, hardworking people – some of us are doctors and nurses – and we are realists. We know works have got to be done but we need our sleep.”

Despite Highways England assuring residents it is doing everything possible to minimise disruption, Alan says it has no real compassion for the ‘sheer hell’ residents are experiencing.

A spokesperson for Highways England said: “We’re sorry for any inconvenience, as we always do everything we can to minimise disruption. As a part of the M5 junctions 4a to 6 smart motorway scheme, which will bring smoother, better journeys to drivers, we need to resurface all lanes of the motorway between these junctions.

“Safety is our number one priority and we need to close the carriageways to carry out the work safely. We alternate our work on different sections to try to reduce the impact of diverted traffic to residents. Traffic is diverted onto the most suitable approved diversion routes agreed with the relevant local authority.

“We are delivering this scheme to an accelerated programme in order to minimise the period over which disruption will occur. For some operations we have to close the motorway for safety reasons. We do minimise the number of closures as far as possible and we always give notice of our planned closures.”

Cllr Chris Bloore is now holding discussions with Highways officers to ask for speed cameras to be fitted closer to the Redditch Road and sound proofing considered for surrounding homes.

He said: “Sound proofing won’t stop the vibrations but it might stop some of the noise. My hope is that our findings will show Highways that the north and southbound closures cannot happen again.”

Highways England is currently planning closures between junctions 4a and 5 on July 27, 28 and 29, as well as August 3 and 4, and between August 9 and 12.