A GRANDMOTHER has said parking changes have led to her road become a terrifying rat run.

Dorothy Bland, 73, told The Argus that cars travelling up and down the 20mph stretch of Manor Hill where she lives are reaching speeds of 60mph or more, leaving her afraid to attempt to cross the road.

Her neighbours have lost pets to speeding traffic and seen their cars damaged, leading some to fear lives could be lost.

Cars have been parked nose to tail down the east side of the steep Brighton hill since permit parking was introduced in nearby Hanover at the beginning of October.

The permit-only scheme has caused the displacement of office and hospital staff who had previously parked their cars in Hanover and Manor Hill residents have warned it has contributed to extremely dangerous driving.

Ms Bland said: “It is terrifying. I’m too scared to go out now or try to cross the road at night.

“The speed people drive down here is unbelievable.”

Her neighbour Tom Budd said: “We’ve lost two pets here already. They’ve been run over.

“And the bloke across the road has had two cars damaged.

“The cars come right down the other side of the road.

“It’s awful up here it’s like a race track.

“The speed limit is 20mph but they drive at three or four times that. If anyone walked out they’d have no chance.”

Another Manor Hill resident, Donna Labey, 35, said: “It’s just really dangerous.

“People don’t even weave in and out any more, they go straight down the wrong side of the road.

“Most of the parked cars aren’t even local people – it’s people who work at the hospital.

“It’s definitely got worse in the last month or so.

“All up Manor Hill and Whitehawk Road it’s the same – it’s crazy it’s so dangerous.”

A dozen residents have signed a petition that Manor Hill be included in a parking scheme but say they have been told by the council that a larger area would be needed as part of any future consultation.

A council spokesman said some displacement was to be expected with any parking scheme and that efforts had been made to anticipate and mitigate the effects including double yellow lines on Tenantry Down Road.