PEOPLE have been left outraged after the council shut two junctions on a school street - with one saying the move "defies logic".

Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed the trial measures to shut junctions between Somerhill Road and Lansdowne Road in Hove, and between Queen's Park Rise and Queen's Park Terrace in Brighton, began yesterday.

Physical barriers will be installed over the next two weeks before pupils are due to go back to school on Monday, March 8.

Bollards will be placed at the Queen’s Park Terrace junction with Queen's Park Rise, and double yellow lines will be extended to give vehicles more space to turn around in Queen’s Park Rise and exit at the other end of the road.

The Argus: The sign displayed by residents The sign displayed by residents

However, furious residents have displayed signs in their windows claiming not to have been consulted on the idea.

Neighbour Alan Meredith, who lives in Queen Park Rise, made the signs challenging the closure that can be seen at a number of properties on the road.

He said: "If you stood out there during school drop off times you might see one or two cars. It isn't a rat run or a shortcut.

"It has been imposed upon us. It is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

In Somerhill Road there will also be “semi-permanent fixtures” in place to prevent all motor vehicles from exiting and entering from Lansdowne Road.

The Argus: Warning from Brighton and Hove City CouncilWarning from Brighton and Hove City Council

Both junctions will only be accessible for pedestrians and cyclists at all times.

The closures are being brought in under experimental traffic orders, which form part of the School Streets scheme to close roads outside Downs Junior School, Brunswick Primary School and St Luke’s Primary School.

In addition to the junction closures, during term time motorists will not be able to drive down Somerhill Road or Queen's Park Rise at all during drop-off and pick-up hours, between 8am and 10am and 2pm and 4pm

Thompson Ford, who also lives in Queens Park Rise, said the move "doesn't make sense" at all.

He said: "I don't mind that the road gets closed off twice a day - it is no inconvenience to us.

"But I cannot understand the logic of closing the road permanently.

"It seems a bit overkill. In some respects, it will probably increase the pollution.

"It just defies logic as far as I am concerned.

"We just got told it was happening and if we wanted to object we could but they are actually building it a week after we got the letter.

"I don't see the point of it. It just doesn't make sense."