A THREE-MAN protest was staged calling for the Colchester bus lanes to be scrapped.

Ian Goldsworthy, James Blyth and Michael Franklin held placards and handed out leaflets to drivers.

Under the restrictions, car drivers are only allowed to go from the High Street into East Hill.

But drivers are dodging the rules by then doing U-turns at Lewis Gardens, the entrance to Firstsite, and then going down Queen Street.

Now the protesters are calling on Essex County Council to reverse the controversial ruling, which only allows buses and taxis to go up North Hill, into the High Street and into Queen Street.

In just an hour yesterday they say they saw 50 people perform U-turns and handed out more than 100 leaflets.

Ian Goldsworthy, who owns a business on North Hill, said: “The U-turns are dangerous.

“Also, people don’t want to come into the town because of the bus lanes.

“To park in Priory Street, you have to go down Queen Street, so people have to do a U-turn.

“If you have got to go that way, what else are you supposed to do? It has not been thought out.”

Although U-turns at that site are not illegal, some fear pedestrians are being put at risk.

The three protesters claimed they had seen five near accidents in the first hour they had been there.

James Blyth, 60, of Ardleigh, had his car hit when a driver performed a U-turn on East Hill.

He said: “Several pedestrians feel they have nearly been run over by the cars backing into them.

“All the leaflets have been gratefully received.”

The bus lanes on North Hill and from High Street into Queen Street were introduced in October 2013 and made permanent in September this year.

The trio were urging people to sign their petition which has already got 828 supporters.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “The experimental bus lanes in Colchester town centre were made permanent this year and will formpart of the route the park and ride buses will take when it opens in 2015.

“At the end of the experimental period, no quantitative data was available to demonstrate any adverse effect on business as a direct consequence of the Traffic Regulation Orders.

“The manoeuvre observed at Lewis Gardens is not a prohibited movement and we expect drivers to exercise caution at all times.”