TWO quiet lanes will be widened ahead of the 2012 Olympic mountain biking event at Hadleigh’s Salvation Army Farm, it has emerged.

Essex County Council had previously indicated neither Chapel Lane nor Castle Lane would be enlarged until a test event was held next summer, but council officers say this is no longer the case.

Residents, who believe the work is unnecessary and would undermine the character of the lanes, are furious with the U-turn.

Hadleigh councillor Bill Sharp, who is supporting the campaign, said: “I’m deeply disappointed by this. It’s a historical area and the residents living there have made it quite clear no changes should be made until a test event has been carried out to see if they are necessary.”

The confusion began at a Castle Point Council planning meeting on June 22, when it was agreed the county council’s highways department would review plans to widen the lanes after the opposition from residents.

The next day, in a comment to the Echo, the county council clarified its position, saying it expected the work would take place after the test event in the summer of 2011.

Hadleigh resident Malcolm Brown, 56, of the Conifers, said: “Maybe they were deliberately trying to confuse residents or maybe they were confused themselves?

“It makes much more sense to do the test event and see if the lanes can cope with the extra traffic or not.”

Castle Lane will be widened by about 1.5metres as far as the Salvation Army Farm, to handle the buses and lorries that need to access the Olympic site.

Chapel Lane will also be widened to ease access to the site.

The work will also see footpaths built along the roads and the existing hedgerows removed and replanted further back from the lanes.

Hadleigh is set to host the cross country mountain biking event as part of the London Games.

The event is scheduled for the weekend of August 11 and 12, 2012.