Worried shoppers are calling for “ridiculously high” speed bumps that scrape and damage cars to be lowered.

The new traffic-calming measures were installed outside Curry’s at Canterbury Retail Park last month.

They are on either side of a pedestrian crossing - but some claim they are more of a safety risk than an aid.

Footage shows both a silver BMW Z4 car and a Ford Focus scraping over the humps.

The managing agents of the Sturry Road shopping centre say they are now investigating after the concerns of drivers were raised by KentOnline.

This week customers at the retail park – which is also home to The Range, Iceland and Carpetright – described the speed bumps as a “danger”.

Michael Williams, 83, told KentOnline: “90% of the cars going over them at more than 10mph are getting the bottom scraped.

“Even when I go over at 5mph, I still hear it hit the exhaust pipe.

“I think we should keep them, but they should be lowered to a sensible height.

“Although they stop people stealing stuff and rushing out of the place, they're still too high even for that.”

Mr Williams, who regularly shops at Curry’s, fears people could “lose control” as they go over the bumps, which were installed just before Christmas.

“It’s overkill, and someone will get killed if they bang their car really hard,” he said.

“People are going to lose control, especially young drivers.

“They are ridiculous - far too high.”

Another regular visitor to the retail park, 63-year-old Lesley Knight, said: “They are a bit high.

“People could damage their cars, and who’s going to pay for it when they do?

“It’s a bit silly. We have a zebra crossing so they've got to stop to let people cross.

“So what's the point of them? They are a waste of money.”

Scratches can be seen on the tarmac where cars have hit the ramps.

Staff at Curry’s have “one or two” customers complaining about the speed bumps every day.

Sales assistant Mukesh Patel told KentOnline: “The bumps are damaging the cars, but we’ve got nothing to do with it because we are not responsible for the work carried out and don’t know who authorised it.

“At least every day, one or two customers come in and mention it.”

The 63-year-old has a Mercedes C Class and has experienced the problem himself.

“It’s a low-profile one so you have to be really extra careful,” he said.

“It's a danger. It's too high.”

Mr Patel added that he had not seen speeding or ‘boy racer’ behaviour in the car park.

Jean Swoffer, 83, said: “They're far too high with a little car.

“I don't know about the modern cars, but mine certainly bangs when it goes over.”

Mrs Swoffer visits the retail park often, so encounters the issue regularly.

“I think they should be lowered,” she added.

“I can’t see any point in having them that high. ​​It's not as though they speed along here.”

The large bumps have replaced smaller yellow and black ones.

A spokesman for Roger Etchells and Co, the managing agents of the shopping centre, said: “The safety of visitors and staff at Canterbury Retail Park is extremely important.

“The speed bumps are a replacement of those previously in position on the access road where there is also a busy crossing point to one of the large retail stores.

“We will investigate this concern alongside our contractor.”

It is not the first time speed ramps have been deemed too big in Kent.

In February last year, bumps damaging cars in Swanscombe were replaced with ‘fake’ optical illusion ones.

In 2017, some at a Tesco in Ashford were branded “brutal” and subsequently lowered.