People in Congresbury have handed a petition to council highway chiefs pressing for improvements to ease traffic in the village.

The Congresbury Rats (Residents Against Traffic Snarl-ups) action group was set up earlier this year to press North Somerset Council to take action to solve the problem of jams building up on the A370 Smallway junction and Brinsea Road at rush hour.

Rats was launched by neighbours John Haynes and Graham Loach who say they, and many other villagers, are left marooned at rush hour because the village comes to a standstill.

The pair have distributed the petition over the past six weeks around Congresbury and the neighbouring villages of Yatton, Claverham and Backwell and this week presented it to North Somerset Council chairman, Councillor Liz Wells.

More than 830 residents have signed the petition.

At peak hours traffic can sometimes tail back along the A370 to the bottom of Rhodyate Hill on the outskirts of the village.

Mr Haynes, 71, of Park Road, said: "We have had a fantastic reaction to the petition and everyone was keen to sign it and get something done to ease the traffic problems in the village.

"People are sick to death of being stuck in the jams and everyone has been grumbling about the gridlock for many years.

"Many people who live in the village feel marooned at rush hour periods and do not go out because they know they will be caught in traffic.

"It doesn't only affect people in Congresbury, but the people in other villages such as Yatton who get caught up in the jams when trying to get on to the A370

"What we have done is harnessed the grumbles in the form of a petition and hope that the council will now sit up and listen to the local people and do something to alleviate the problem."

North Somerset Council appointed traffic consultant Halcrow last year to draw up a detailed report to look at how congestion and tailbacks in the centre of the village could be eased.

Consultants put forward a number of options – some of which could cost about £500,000 – including installing twin southbound traffic lanes over the Congresbury Yeo bridge.

Another option up for consideration is to build a new road over the Congresbury Moor to link the A370 with the B3133 and take traffic away from the junctions.

But Congresbury Parish Council rejected the proposals on the basis there had not been enough consultation with local residents.

Mr Haynes, a retired electrical engineer who has lived in the village for five years, added: "This issue needs to be sorted before Congresbury finally grinds to a halt."

Congresbury Parish Council clerk, Jo Duffy, said: "The parish council felt the options put forward by North Somerset did not offer a long-term solution to the traffic issues in the village."