A LONG-suffering homeowner last night urged as many people as possible to sign up to the EADT’s campaign to secure a bypass for the A12.

Judith Spatchett, who lives on the notorious “Farnham bend”, has been campaigning to secure improvements to the busy stretch of road since the early 1980s.

Traffic thunders past her home daily and she has had to endure decades of broken promises and false hope.

Last night the 69-year-old urged people to continue to support the EADT’s Bypass 4 The Villages campaign, which aims to end the traffic misery of residents living in Marlesford, Little Glemham, Stratford St Andrew and Farnham.

Mrs Spatchett, who has lived at the property with her husband, Richard, for 46 years, said: “It’s been talked about since 1929. When we first moved here we were told we would get a bypass and in the 1990s it was all agreed, only for it to be pulled at the last minute.

“It is needed more so now than ever before. The volume of traffic has increased no end, especially with the larger lorries. This is still the same track that was used by horse and carts.

“I would hate to walk along the road with a pram or a pushchair like we used to do. You just can’t.

“Now we are approaching Easter and the summer months it will get even busier. It’s terrible.

“The trouble is there is nothing you can do to widen the road because a lot of the homes are historic listed buildings and are protected. The only way we’ll be able to do it is if we have a bypass and build a new route.”

The EADT has been spearheading a campaign to secure a bypass from the Wickham Market junction to the Friday Street junction at Benhall.

Hundreds of people have pledged their support from across Suffolk and further afield.

Suffolk County Council, which owns the road, supports the project but says it has little chance of securing funding from central Government in the current economic climate.

But if energy giant EDF is given the go-ahead to build a new nuclear power station at Sizewell, it will be asked to contribute to local transport schemes – and local residents want to push the case for a bypass. EDF has said it will listen to the views of local people on the matter.

Mrs Spatchett, a former chairman of Farnham with Stratford St Andrew Parish Council, continued: “I would think Sizewell C is our only chance and I’m hopeful, but we’ve had our hopes dashed before. Sometimes I think I won’t see it in my lifetime, but I hope I will.

“I signed up to the campaign the first day I saw it in the paper. I would urge everyone out there to do the same. Please sign it. It is vital. The road is used by everyone - Aldeburgh, Walberswick, Southwold, wherever you go you have to use it.”

To back the campaign, fill in the coupon or visit www.eadt.co.uk/bypass4thevillages.