A rural community is growing increasingly angry at large lorries using its country lanes with impunity - but the council says there’s nothing it can do to stop them.

There is a 7.5-tonne weight restriction on many roads in the Weald of Kent, which residents say are often abused.

The lorry ban covers many of the roads around Collier Street near Marden, including the B2162, Claygate Road, Emmett Hill Lane, Pikefish Lane, Haviker Street, Kings Lane, Spenny Lane, Hunton Road, part of Underlyn Lane and others.

Vehicles over the weight limit are prohibited from using them unless they need to access a property within the area.

Sean Randell has been a member of Collier Street Lorry Watch for the past three and a half years.

He said: “We’ve tried for ages to get Kent County Council (KCC) to enforce its own restrictions - but failed.

“There are few pavements in the area and walking in the road becomes even more dangerous if an HGV is coming along, especially since many lanes are bordered with a ditch and there is nowhere to step into.

“The offending vehicles also make it difficult for the local farmers who have to use these roads, but sometimes can’t get by with their plant if a large lorry is coming in the other direction.”

He’s calling for KCC to use new powers, recently handed down to local authorities by the government, which enable it to punish drivers committing “moving traffic offences.”

Beforehand, only the police could dish out fines for motoring misdemeanours outside of London.

Mr Randell said: ”Cameras are what we need here.

“To give KCC its due, the restricted roads are well signed, so that is not the problem. It’s just that too many drivers chose to ignore the rules.”

However, KCC says such powers only allow it to monitor offences such as drivers ignoring no-entry signs, stopping in yellow box junctions and driving in bus or taxi lanes.

Friday the 13th of December proved unlucky for one driver of an oversized vehicle which slipped off Hunton Road and into the ditch between Marden and Collier Street, within the weight-restricted zone.

Mr Randell said: “The lane had to be closed, while the police attended and cranes were put to work to clear the lorry, which shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

But although Mr Randell and his Lorry Watch team members have supplied the registration numbers of offending vehicles to KCC, the drivers have not been prosecuted.

After he complained to the council he was told: “We are unable to write letters to the owners of the vehicles. We are unable to use registration numbers to gather the details of a driver in the same way as the police could.

“However, we will always take the information from any Lorry Watch Scheme and use it to contact the freight companies.

“We will investigate their reasoning for being in the area and if possible, look for a better route for their drivers to use in the future.”

In an email to him, KCC also said: “It is frustrating that we are unable to use enforcement, but we will continue to use the Lorry Watch Schemes to encourage all freight companies to use the appropriate highway routes, unless they are required to go down restricted highways for collections or deliveries.”

A KCC spokesman told KentOnline: "As a highway authority, Kent County Council do have certain powers to enforce restrictions across our road network, including contravening traffic restrictions, box junctions and bus lanes.

“However, we have no plans to use these powers to enforce environmental weight restrictions at this time as there is currently no funding available.”