UNPOPULAR traffic calming measures in Tilford look set to be all but scrapped after less than a year.

Councillors on Waverley's Local Committee are being advised by council officers to vote for five changes to the £64,000 STAR package when they meet on Friday.

The key changes include the removal of the mini-roundabout next to All Saints Church and the installation of a T-junction with revised priorities; the option of re-opening one lane of the western bridge, which was closed to traffic as part of STAR; and removal of a pinch-point outside All Saints School.

The remaining recommendations will see the current "gateways" at entry points to the village revised with reminders to motorists approaching the centre of the village to reduce their speed to 30 miles per hour.

And the car park next to the village green is earmarked for resurfacing to attract Barley Mow pub customers' currently causing congestion by parking outside the pub.

Tilford Parish Council chairman Ian May gave a partial welcome to the recommendations.

"At the very least we're getting gateways reminding people of the 30 miles per hour limit through the conservation area, which is the centre of the village. This will create resistance to the idea of using Tilford as a rat run.

"But in fiddling about with the details, I wonder whether or not they're still maintaining a skewered approach to the problem when a simple answer is all that's needed."

Although Tilford Parish Council agreed to the principle of traffic calming in 1997, there was no formal vote on the measures implemented last summer.

Almost immediately there was widespread and vocal opposition and an anti-STAR group, The Restore Tilford Campaign was established.

Following intense lobbying of Waverley, the Restore Tilford Campaign, the parish council, Tilford's two schools and villagers were invited for their views on STAR as road officers agreed to go back to the drawing board.

The recommendations to be voted on on Friday, are the result of those consultations and have been drawn up by a specially convened task group of borough and county councillors.