THIS is the gate that has caused more than just a stir at council offices but a residents' group hope it will provide the solution to a long-running nightmare.

People living in Chalklands, Bourne End, have long complained about their potholed road which they say has been caused by heavy vehicles using it to access neighbouring roads, Goddington and Greenside.

Although these roads are public highways, Chalklands has always been a private road, and council chiefs have continually denied responsibility for maintaining it.

But on Tuesday, April 26th, residents finally took their own course of action and installed the gate which cuts off access to Chalklands via Blind Lane.

Martin Capp, vice chairman of Chalklands Residents Association (CRA), said: "We have spoken to the councils for two and a half years. If they said to us that they didn't have enough in the budget to improve the road we would have said that is fine, can you put it in the budget over the next five years or something'. But they haven't been working with us."

The CRA claims the councils should take responsiblity for maintaining Chalklands because they built an adjoining housing estate road between Chalklands and Goddington in the 1960s.

Ian Reed, area co-ordinator for Wycombe at the county council, said he had already received letters from some unhappy Chalklands residents who wanted the gate removed.

At a meeting last Tuesday, with transport officers and a council solicitor, the council considered its next move.

Mr Reed said: "The solicitor is preparing a brief for council and depending on the legal opinion, we'll decide what our next steps are."