A narrow rat-run used by thousands of motorists every day is causing “animosity and very aggressive behaviour”.

Church Lane, which forms a main route into Seasalter from the Thanet Way, was historically used to access Seasalter Church.

But with the development of the town, it has become an extremely busy thoroughfare.

It remains a single-lane track, with a 6ft 6ins restriction and just two passing places, which one city councillor Ashley Clark has branded “laughable in size and functionality”.

Wayne Beba, manager at Rowan Tree Park and Applegarth Park residential homes, has used Church Lane several times a day for the last 20 years, to access the two sites which sit at its opposite ends.

“It’s the worst road in Kent,” he said. “It’s one of the main roads into Whitstable, but it’s unbelievable.

“People meet in the middle, argue about right of way, and before you know it there’s traffic backed up to the Thanet Way and Joy Lane.

“Most people just go through as fast as they can with their fingers crossed.

“They added a couple of passing places a few years ago, but I don’t understand why they didn’t widen the whole road.

“The animosity, road rage, frustration and very aggressive behaviour it creates on a daily basis is ridiculous.”

Mr Beba described an incident he recently encountered in Church Lane.

“I saw a man parked in a passing bay and asked if he was all right,” he said.

“He was shocked. He explained he had met another driver and they had argued about who should reverse.

“While they were arguing the other gentleman came over, grabbed his keys out of the ignition and threw them in the bush never to be seen again.”

Mr Beba says the road also poses a risk to pedestrians.

“It’s used by our residents to get to the local shop and bus stop, but it’s not advisable. There is no pavement.

“Our residential parks are for over-50s - some are 85 or 90. But regardless of age, nobody should have to walk on a road that dangerous.”

Cllr Ashley Clark is now calling for Church Lane to be widened, for a proper footpath to be installed and for a 20mph limit to be introduced.

He says the issue cropped up again and again when he knocked on doors ahead of May’s local elections.

“The present situation produces congestion for traffic, and intimidation and fear in respect of vulnerable people,” he said.

“There have been serious shouting matches with people refusing to reverse, and one man I spoke to said his daughter had been spat at.

“It is in dire need of improvement. The whole road must have been designed by a comedian.”

And the situation is only set to worsen, he says.

“Consultation documents for the closure of Seasalter Surgery give Church Lane as the route of travel from Seasalter to Estuary View,” he said.

Meanwhile, Alberta Holiday Park has applied for permission to build almost 150 new static caravans just around the corner from Church Lane.

At a meeting of the council’s Joint Transportation Board, Cllr Clark proposed that Kent Highways and Canterbury City Council work together to urgently bring about the road’s “much-needed transformation”.

The motion was seconded by county councillor Mark Dance, who indicated he will put some of his member-allocated funding towards it.

“Clearly matters will not be achieved overnight, but at long last there is an acceptance that something needs to be done and the political will is there to achieve that,” said Cllr Clark.

A Kent County Council spokesman said: “We appreciate the concerns around Church Lane and understand the issues that drivers face.

“We do not currently have any plans to change the road, although we would be happy to consider widening the road if the land and funding were to be available.”

Cllr Clark says widening the road would not require a compulsory purchase, as the land is already city council-owned.

He added: “Church Lane has become a major and busy thoroughfare used by locals to access the shops and medical centre, and by others as both a rat-run to avoid the queues on the Thanet Way slip seeking to get into Whitstable as well as the thousands who use the holiday and caravan parks closer to the beach.

"But developments over the past couple of decades have seen the route - which joins the Thanet Way - become a key route in and out of Seasalter.”

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