People living near a busy road are taking matters into their own hands after finding bags of poo hanging from trees and bottles of urine dumped outside their homes by lorry drivers.

Neighbours who live along the A249 are placing traffic cones outside their properties to deter lorries from spending the night there.

Dez Leach, who lives in Detling, said he has seen as many as 19 lorries parked in the lay-by next to his house overnight.

He said: "Living next to the A249 is quite hard work and I have been living there for about five years but to be fair, the road was there a long time before I was so I knew what I was moving in to.

"Next to my house there is a lay-by and there's room for two lorries but most nights there are around seven or eight with the most being 19.

"There aren't any toilets there - and I do sympathise with the lorry drivers as it must be really difficult for them.

"But they either go in a carrier bag and throw it out the window or just on the grass.

"The urine is often in bottles which are thrown over my hedge or into the road."

Maidstone Borough Council has installed bins at designated parking spots but, despite this, litter fills the hedges.

Mr Leach added the kerbstones and verges are cracking under the weight of the lorries, handing Kent County Council the bill to repair them.

He said: "To be fair KCC has been really good at coming to clear the lay-by when I call them up and they have replaced a load of curbstones but they will just break again.

"Neither the path or the kerbstones are designed for lorry parking so the paths now have big cracks.

"It's costing KCC a lot of money and causes me a lot of problems with the noise and also the fumes."

He added his sympathies for the drivers as there are few places to park for free but raised his frustrations how lorry engines are left running overnight next to his home.

To deter lorry drivers from parking up, Mr Leach and his neighbours are trying to block the lay-by with traffic cones.

Detling Parish Council chair Irene Bowie said: "We don't know why people aren't using bins.

"It's awful, leaving human waste lying round poses environmental issues and something needs to be done."

Cllr Bowie is also concerned of the dangers posed by lorries blocking lay-bys.

She said: "I've seen for myself foreign lorry drivers having to stop in live traffic and reverse into lay-bys. It's horrific.

"Because they're foreign lorries, they are also pulling out into the road blind, we've also seen lorries parking closer to pavements and damaging the road.

"If someone were to break down in the evening when the lay-bys are full, they have to stop in live traffic."

Kent County Council said it cannot do anything about the litter or parking, which it said comes under Maidstone Borough Council.

A spokesperson from Maidstone Borough Council said: "We have a very robust cleansing schedule of the lay-bys along the A249 in place.

"Over the past 12 months we have provided additional litter bins and worked with Kent County Council to keep vegetation low and litter free.

"We always respond to reports from the public requesting for waste to be removed from the highway as quickly as possible and work together with the police to report any illegal activity that we find evidence of."