Impatient drivers and constructors have wrecked a popular community green to dodge roadworks.

Motorists are using the plot to bypass temporary traffic lights on The Avenue in Bevendean, Brighton, stripping if of grass and covering it in deep ruts.

The lights are part of the carriageway reconstruction and drainage works that began on February 16.

And the green could be subjected to further damage because Brighton and Hove City Council expects the work to continue until the end of June.

Robert Brown, the chairman of the Action for Bevendean community residents' forum, said: “The road was crumbling and covered in potholes so the improvements needed doing but I know vehicles have been shooting up the green when they can't be bothered to wait for the lights.

“The state of the grass is terrible. If there's any rain we'll be up to our armpits in mud.”

Vehicles are banned from going on the green but the council's contractor needs it for access and for storing materials.

Residents also park on it when their driveways are blocked by the roadworks.

Robert Jones, 25, of Lower Bevendean Avenue, said: “The green is a raceway for short-cuts and if this carries on it will be ruined for the summer when locals will want to use it as a communal space.

“The good weather has dried up patches, leaving them dead and bare.”

Locals say the two long stretches of lawn needed 18 months to recover from similar damage in 2004.

Sylvia Steele, 79, who has lived in Bevendean for more than 40 years, said: “I like seeing youngsters using the green.

“They play football and golf and frisbee is a popular thing recently too, but now the green has been chewed up to dirt.”

If the roadworks are completed on time they will have taken almost five months.

Barriers are now in place to block some of the short-cut routes and the council plans to re-seed and fully restore the green.

Ross Cleveland, a maintenance engineer for the council, said: “Our contractor is not liable for damage caused by non-construction traffic but has already agreed to work with us to ensure that any areas that will not naturally recover from vehicle use will be soiled and seeded to our instructions.”