COUNCIL contractors are to smooth out a speed ramp after motorists damaged their cars.

Brighton and Hove City Council has instructed workers to amend the new speed hump at the junction of Blaker Street and Edward Street.

Residents in the colourful Brighton street have become accustomed to the soundtrack of cars regularly thwacking the speed hump with several motorists damaging the undercarriage of their cars.

Council officials said the steep hill of Blaker Street had made carrying out the improvements difficult and work to make the bump more forgiving for vehicles would be carried out in a matter of weeks.

The speed humps are part of a £1 million overhaul of Edward Street which has seen the creation of a bus and taxi lane, cycle lane and pedestrian crossings.

Council officials said the ramp to the adjacent White Street should be fine if approached at an appropriate speed.

It is not the first council transport improvement which has required modification – the £600,000 cycle lane at the Vogue Gyratory has undergone changes after several cyclists fell on a obscured kerb while the new Wilbury Villas bridge layout raised eyebrows in August when it was revealed to be narrower than some of the country’s most popular cars.

Blaker Street resident Julie Busfield said: “I have scraped the bottom of my car and I won’t go out of the road that way anymore.”

Fellow resident Mohammed Maboutayab, 74, said: “It is too high, I don’t know how they’ve done that.

“There never was a problem with people speeding in the road except for a few people speeding down the hill.”

Helen Fitzgerald, 44, said: “I haven’t had a problem but maybe it’s because we have a wide-base van.

“It’s just a matter of driving very slowly, you shouldn’t be driving fast at the end of the road anyway.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “We have had some reports of low and heavy vehicles hitting the entry treatment at Blaker Street.

“Officers have investigated and the contractors have been instructed to undertake remedial works to fix this.

“The gradient at Blaker Street is difficult entering the road, Blaker Street’s upslope makes the ramp effectively steeper.

“The entry treatments were all designed and built within the recommended guidelines but occasionally local topography does require some adjustments to be made and this has been the case at this location.”

Motorists who have suffered damage to their cars can submit an insurance claim through the council’s website at brighton-hove.gov.uk