SPEEDING motorists and the lack of parking facilities near a popular prehistoric monument are causing a danger because of increasing visitor numbers, a Trust group claims.

The Rollright Stones, known locally as a 'mini Stonehenge' are adjacent to a narrow road, used as a rat-run. which links the A44 and A3400 at Little Rollright, on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border near Chipping Norton.

On the Oxfordshire side of the road stands the Whispering Knights early neolithic burial chamber thought to date from 3,500BC and the Kings Men late Neolithic stone circle of around 2,500BC. The King Stone, a single standing stone thought to mark a Bronze Age burial ground at 1,500BC stands on the Warwickshire side of the boundary.

The county boundary is marked by the hedge boundary on the south side of the road that passes the Stones.

The Rollright Trust says the current speed limit of 60 miles per hour along the road is too fast and hopes a planning application for a parking area will indirectly address it.

Members of the Trust say the number of visitors to the three individual monuments situated on both sides of the road has grown significantly in the last few years and, following the introduction of prehistory to the national curriculum last year, the site has also been attracting groups of up to 90 young primary school children at a time.

Sara Withey, local resident and a Rollright trustee, said: "The present situation is appalling and it gets worse and worse."

The Trusts says that although Warwickshire County Council has now reinstated pedestrian warning signs on the area of land they have responsibility for, the need for visitors to cross the road and manoeuvre in and out of lay-bys with only limited visibility has become an increasingly serious concern.

They also claim the lay-bys can no longer cope with the number of visitors and cause congestion with cars spread several hundred meters along the verges at busy times.

The Trust has an outstanding application to West Oxfordshire District Council to create an off-road overflow parking area over on the Oxfordshire border to the west of the stone circle resolve this, but one of the sticking points is the need to have very long sight-lines for a 60mph road.

The Trust says that it is almost impossible to provide such a facility while the speed limit remains unaltered, but wants its application approved subject to resolving highways problems to help make the case for a much lower speed limit.

Trust member Robin Smitten, who also chairs the Chipping Norton Amateur Astronomy Group which successfully won Dark Skies status for the Stones last year, said: "We believe we have widespread support for what we are proposing and look forward to working with the highways authority, local councils, conservation and community bodies and neighbours to take this forward."

The planning application was deferred at the September 7 meeting for a site visit which is due to take place on October 1.