Residents at a neighbourhood plagued by Dover TAP held a demonstration today.

A total 10 residents at Aycliffe in Dover held banners to highlight the misery the traffic control system is causing them.

Families have told of being woken up by truckers kept waiting next to the estate blaring their horns day and night.

They have also told of pollution to their estate by running engines and rubbish dumped by drivers.

Some locals now say rats have been seen rummaging around waste left behind.

There are no portable toilets for the drivers at the roadside and no food outlets.

Protest organiser Nikki Bushell said: "It's a living hell for all residents here although I feel for the drivers too."

Resident Julie Cooper said: "When TAP is here you can't open your windows on a hot day. Do the drivers really need to beep their horns?

"I think it's possible they don't realise how many houses they are parked next to. From parts of the road many are hidden by a valley.

"But all the authorities need to do is to move the queue further back along the A20 so the lorries are not parked next to houses."

The banners the demonstrators held today made that point with the slogan: "Move TAP back."

The protest was held on a footbridge off Old Folkestone Road. That bridge goes over the A20 where lorries are held.

Today they had respite because Dover TAP (Traffic Assessment Project) was not in use.

But it has regularly been in place since it was introduced in April 2015, usually because of bad weather on the Channel and strikes in France.

It has been utilised almost every day during April, including yesterday. This is because of a shortage of cross-Channel ships since P&O Ferries has been out of action locally after its mass sackings last month.

Problems lately have been aggravated by a high demand for travel during the Easter holiday period.

Dover TAP is a temporary traffic management system, which queues port-bound lorries on the nearside to prevent congestion in the town.

It usually starts at the Aycliffe and Western Heights roundabout and goes as far as the Hawkinge area.

National Highways says moving TAP even 200 yards further west would mean truckers having the hazard of trying to stop at the bottom of a steep hill.

It says there is currently no street lighting further back and that area is also high risk fog area.

A spokesman added: "The infrastructure at the roundabout also allows the control of the traffic lights to let lorries through when capacity allows."