Villagers plagued by HGVs drivers using sat nav systems and clogging up narrow country roads have welcomed news of a survey to ease the problem.

Hundreds of unsuitable roads from Paddock Wood to Platt and Marden to Maidstone are being logged in a lengthy Kent Highways Services' survey.

The survey was prompted initially by a Slovenian driver who left villagers stranded in Mereworth in July last year.

It wants to work with sat nav companies to flag up unsuitable roads and produce an up-to-date preferred lorry route map to be sent to all freight transport agencies. It is also looking to put up more warning signs.

The Mereworth incident involved a driver on his first trip in the UK, en route from Dover to Wales. He was guided off the M20 by his sat nav but ended up jammed between a fence and a wall at the junction of Butchers Lane and Beech Road. Residents were left stranded and complaining it was the second incident in six months.

Gill Kirby, clerk to Mereworth Parish Council, said: “The survey is fantastic news. It seems like a brilliant idea. Mereworth has been very worried about the problem in the country roads, partly due to sat navs.”

People living in Symmonds Lane, Yalding, suffered a similar problem in March when the driver of a 40ft articulated lorry, relying on his sat nav, was sent along the single-track lane. He tried turning round on adjoining grass and got bogged down, blocking the lane. The incident underlined villagers’ anger at HGV unnecessarily driving through the village.

Parish council vice-chairman Cllr Vivienne Robinson said: “Any moves which can be made to stop lorries going through the village because of sat navs will be welcomed but our campaign is to regulate lorries from coming through the village. We don’t want to ban the ones that legitimately need to be here but we want to stop the rat running.”

The survey has also highlighted problems in Maidstone with Barming Bridge, Freeman Way and Albert Street, flagged up.

Marden’s problem roads include Longend Road and Milebush Lane while in Paddock Wood, where the Transfesa depot attracts many lorries, Lucks Lane, the Maidstone Road bridge and Willow Lane have been logged.