RESIDENTS of a quiet Frensham lane say new railings put up by Surrey County Council have spoilt the character and appeal of the area.
Colin and Sarah Hall have lived at West End Lane for 17 years and believe replacement railings recently installed by the county council are "monstrous".
The barriers were erected to prevent cars from driving into the stream that runs along the lane and were replaced by Surrey County Council with a new larger structure to meet the national standards.
But Mr Hall says the roadside barriers are only suitable for town centres and not for quite rural lanes.
He said: "This is a quiet country lane with hardly any traffic. More people come down this lane on horse back than in cars.
"The stream that runs alongside the lane which is quite deep and runs quiet fast. For years we have had small posts and rails next to the stream to stop cars driving into it.
"Its been repaired a few times whenever a car has hit it or its been vandalised, but we have never seen a major accident here.
"Our neighbours have been here for 25 years and they have never seen anyone drive into the river."
He added: "This time the council has put these monstrous barriers up. They are at least two times the size and with double the amount of posts.
"Everyone is up in arms and asking what on earth the county council is doing."
When Mr Hall contacted the county council for an explanation, he was told the railings were replaced to meet a new national standard.
But Mr Hall is hoping he can convince the council to look for an alternative.
He said: "The county council told me they had put up similar railings in the centre of Haslemere but that is a town centre.
"There must be something more appropriate to this area. I hope this isn't the kind of thing we are going to start seeing in other rural areas."
Surrey County Council senior engineer Graham Sapsed said the pedestrian safety railings have to be at least one metre high.
He said: "The old railings came up to the back of your knee so you can imagine how unsuitable this was for someone walking in the area at night, it was quite dangerous.
"Some of the older railings in this are slowly falling into a state of disrepair. Over the passage of time we have been replacing them with something in keeping with the local area."
He added: "We are looking to improve highways safety wherever we can. The new railings have been approved by Waverley Borough Council and have been used in other conservation areas."