Residents have complained that sat-navs are responsible for a Roman castle slowly crumbling to the ground.

The 1,800-year old structure in Pevensey, near Eastbourne, is being shaken by the vibrations of heavy traffic directed through the area by satellite navigation systems.

In some cases the vehicles are so large that locals say the vehicles scrape the castle's ancient walls.

They say drivers are sent through Pevensey instead of the A27 Polegate by-pass.

The castle appears on the English Heritage website and is of huge historic interest.

Spurred by the possibility of losing the historic monument and other listed buildings that are more than 500 years old, a band of residents have now called on MPs and councillors to act before it is too late.

Caterer Pauline Turner, 59, has presented a letter and petition to Eastbourne Borough Council.

The petition has eight A4 pages of signatures.

It calls on the council to step in and reduce the number of HGVs rattling through Pevensey either by new sign posting or a weight limit.

The petition also states that the volume of traffic is breaking up the road and that this could damage the foundations of houses.

Ms Turner said: "Large lorries should go on the Polegate bypass, that's what it was built for, but they're passing through the village instead.

"Sat-nav systems are partly to blame because the village is the shortest route even if it's not the quickest.

"The noise has hit an unbearable level. If I'm upstairs in my home with the radio on, I can't hear the radio."

Resident Keith Belcher has been in contact with English Heritage to draw their attention to the damage traffic is doing to the listed Old Mint House, once home to 16th century writer Andrew Borde.

County Councillor Simon Radford-Kirby said: "I'm going to present the petition to the full council at East Sussex and leading members of the transport department. It's been an ongoing problem for years but it's not easily resolvable.

"The HGVs should be on the bypass but a lot of them either don't know the area or are taking shortcuts. One possibility might be putting up signs encouraging them to take another route.

"The way the road is classified means it can't have a weight limit but we've put in place traffic calming measures in Westham which we're hoping will have a knock on effect in Pevensey."

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