A FAMILY say their lives have been ruined after ‘dangerous’ changes were made to the road outside their Malmesbury home.

Iris Thompson, 76, said she has felt suicidal due to the stress caused by the alterations made to a junction outside her house and has been fighting Wiltshire Council for two years over the issue.

She lives on the corner of a recently installed roundabout which provides access to the Dyson headquarters and her concerns centre around the speed with which cars leave the roundabout with an exit road directly outside her home. 

The turning was previously a junction with traffic lights.

Iris said she has experienced several near misses with her car almost being hit every time she pulls in or out of her driveway, as motorists have little time to react.

When changes to the road layout were made six months ago, the speed limit was also increased from 40 to 60mph for the short section of road they live on.

A study conducted by the council showed that the majority of vehicles travel past the house at about 30mph, but some were clocked at up to 55mph.

Having attended numerous meetings to urge the council to reduce the speed limit, Iris has said her requests for changes have fallen on deaf ears.

“We have been white-washed,” she said. “We were set up really.

“I’ve been getting pushed from one person to another, given a load of rubbish. They haven’t worked with us at all, just blanked me. I’ve had to grow a very thick skin going to these meetings.”

Iris and her partner, Nigel Blake, 69, say that the situation has become so stressful, that they have felt compelled to leave the town on numerous occasions to stay with relatives, in order to get away from the problem.

“It’s ruined our lives totally,” said Nigel.

“We have to go to Southampton to see family to get out of the situation that they have put us in. Some days I could sit here and just cry.”

Iris’s son Christopher Thompson, 48, who also lives at the house, said: “They’ve moved the junction ten metres closer to our drive and traffic flow has increased as they’ve allowed Dyson to expand,” he said. And now they’ve increased the speed, without consultation. The 60mph doesn’t affect anyone else, just us.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “We do understand her concerns and have been liaising with her regarding the issue, which is currently under consideration by the Malmesbury Community Area Transport Group.”