There are more than 250 large vehicles entering the town every day, says Sandwich Town Team.

Chairman of the town team, Cllr Sue Laslett, says that Sandwich is not designed for this volume of large vehicles.

This data has been collected through the Lorry Watch Programme organised by Cllr Laslett and Carole George.

It started last month after residents expressed concerns with large vehicles driving along the narrow roads of the medieval town and damaging buildings.

Cllr Laslett said: “We know from our programme over the last few weeks that there are around 250 HGVs, coaches, or buses per day travelling through Sandwich and that our roads are just not designed for this volume of large vehicles.

“The Lorry Watch has also thrown up issues relating to speeding vehicles, pollution from diesel fumes and unacceptable noise levels which need to be taken up with DDC and KCC.

“As chairman of the town team, I would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers and especially Carole George who has put so much of her time organising and implementing the programme.”

The group has been monitoring the entrance roads to the town and recording the vehicles which pass through to see if any of them exceed weight and height restrictions.

They have one more session to complete the programme on Thursday, August 21, and then they will compile the data to forward to KCC Freight.

The town team has also written a draft traffic management paper that Cllr Laslett will present to Sandwich Town Council at ameeting on Monday, August 18.

She added: “This paper addresses a whole range of traffic issues and puts forward both short term and long term solutions for the town.”

Mayor of Sandwich, Cllr Paul Graeme explained he was also concerned about the amount of HGV traffic which could damage buildings and pose a danger to pedestrians on narrow roads.

He said: “Thank you for the town team for organising the Lorry Watch scheme, having undertaken this programme I am very surprised at the number of HGVs coming through town.

“We will be discussing what action we can take to protect the town, it’s roads and historic buildings.

“One of the problems is caused by sat navs, as I understand some lorry drivers will buy cheap ones which are meant for cars and it sends them on the shortest route rather than the safest.”