Residents stage costumed conga line protest over seaside town's bendy road lines

A group of residents have staged a fancy dress conga line protest to highlight their seaside town's bizarre bendy road markings.

The wriggly white lines along the seafront in Clevedon, Somerset, swerve all over the place, confusing motorists and pedestrians alike.

So locals decided the best way to highlight the road markings was to form a conga line and follow them on their curvy path.

North Somerset Council says the lines are a deliberate design aimed at slowing down traffic by making the road feel more narrow.

But many local residents disagree, including the organisers of the weekend's dance protest, titled "Snake on Sunday".

In a post on social media, they wrote: "Are you against the barmy curvy lines that have made North Somerset Council into a viral laughing stock of the nation?

"We will walk the line in a wavy wiggle conga to show how we are against the unsafe wiggly changes to our once lovely Victorian seafront which has been vandalised by NSC [North Somerset Council].

"We will demand it’s put back to the safe space it once was. Fancy dress optional. Home-made banners essential."

One social media user commented: "The road layout is a hot mess, the cycle lane is next to the pavement, then there is parking, then out the other side of the road is normal one way traffic."

Read more: Councillor forced to wander streets looking in bins for missing Evri delivery

Another person said: "I kid you not, the squiggly lines are opposite driveways to allow vehicles to swerve to get round and into their drives without crossing the white line.”

The markings were added as part of plans to introduce a new beach-front cycle path along the seaside road, with the goal of removing traffic from the town's seafront.

A new cycleway will form part of the "Pier to Pier" link between Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon, with the road next to it also being made one way.

A council spokesman said: "The lines are a design feature to reduce the potential abuse of parking at these locations and help make the road feel narrower, which is a technique used to slow traffic speeds.

"A wavy line provides uncertainty to the driver and is proven to help reduce unwanted parking."

The lines are doe to be completed with a surface treatment this spring.

North Somerset MP Liam Fox described the scheme as a 'shambles" and urged council chiefs to halt the project and apologise to the people of Clevedon.

The Save our Seafront (SOS) group has called on the Department for Transport to intervene, citing a number of safety concerns.

A petition against the seafront changes has also collected more than 6,000 signatures.