A respected historian who is passionate about preserving the town is campaigning to stop monstrous lorries crawling through Faversham.

Arthur Percival, along with many other drivers and pedestrians in the town, is fed up of large lorries creating a gridlock through the narrow, historic streets.

Instead of taking the A2 and Western Link roads to the major factories on the other side of town near Oare, the lengthy trucks are using a rat-run through many of the town’s streets.

A hotspot for jams is Stone Street where he lives as the lost lorries seem to naively follow their sat-navs and turn away from the A2.

They then trundle along Briton Road and Saxon Road, both tiny, and find themselves stuck as they turn into Stone Street.

Mr Percival said: “They have to ease to and fro, blocking Stone Street in both directions, often for as long as five minutes.

“They delay buses and emergency vehicles as well as private cars and vans.

“Sometimes, despite the drivers’ best endeavours they scrape cars parked in allocated spaces.”

Mr Percival believes residents are ultimately paying the price as their parked cars are often being bashed by passing lorries as they inch through the town.

He is asking councillors to propose more warning signs are placed around the town and the factories are told to enforce the proper route with their drivers.

He added: “Presumably GPS is to blame, and probably there’s little that can be done about this.

“However, the issue needs addressing.”

The problem could be raised at the next meeting of the town council’s conservation liason committee.

Member Cllr Anita Walker said: “The problem is, I think, that HGVs use satnavs and these are notoriously bad at giving accurate routes for lorries.

“They don’t take into account the narrow roads – just look for the most direct route.”