Traffic travelling along Boughton Lane in Maidstone has increased by 53% in five years, a new traffic survey has shown.

The number of vehicles travelling through the Swan crossroads on the Loose Road now exceeds 2,000 an hour during peak periods.

The figures come from the latest survey carried out by members of the North Loose Residents Association (NLRA) who had 63 counters out monitoring at The Swan and Wheatsheaf junctions over two days in April and one in May.

The association had carried out similar surveys in October 2012 and November 2014 and also had the results of a survey completed by traffic consultants working for New Line Learning school as a comparison. This was done in July 2011.

These showed 2, 645 journeys in 12 hours in 2011, compared with 4,055 today.

Even since the last survey in 2014, when there were 3,623 movements in the same 12-hour period, traffic has increased by 11%.

Alan Moore, of the residents association, said: “Boughton Lane, we should remember, is exactly what it says it is – a lane - and in some places it is so narrow it is almost impossible for vehicles travelling in opposite directions to pass.”

Maidstone council has designated the playing fields at New Line Learning in Boughton Lane as a site suitable to take an additional 180 homes in its draft Local Plan.

For the first time, NLRA also monitored traffic at the Wheatsheaf junction, where it found in excess of 37,000 vehicles passed through between 6am and 8pm.

Significantly, every fifth vehicle travelling north towards Maidstone on the A229 then turns right at the Wheatsheaf to head along the A274 Sutton Road causing tailbacks on the Loose Road. It’s a similar story for traffic travelling north on the A274 and turning left at the Wheatsheaf to go down the A229.

Mr Moore, who lives on Loose Road, said: “Quite clearly this number of traffic movements is unsustainable; the road surface is deteriorating and pollution levels are increasing.”