"It's my way or the wrong way" say angry villager

Nigel says his village gets 50 lost drivers each day. Credit: Wales News Service

An angry villager has rigged up his own eight road signs after his quiet cul-de-sac was flooded with thousands of tourists being sent the wrong way by their sat-navs.

Nigel Winfield says he's being driven round the bend by up to 50 confused tourists stranded near his home at Blaenavon each day.

He has even had tour buses full of French schoolchildren dumped on his doorstep - a mile away from the Big Pit coalmine tourist attraction.

Nigel took the law into his own hands after his complaints to the local council and museum failed.

He made eight realistic road signs in official colours and logos - and put them up on the streets near Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon, South Wales.

And Nigel reckons his homemade "tourist information" signs have led to a 90 per cent reduction in traffic in the village of Forgeside.

The signs took Nigel five days to make and cost around £50 - he even made a stencil to copy the logos for sat-nav and the Big Pit.

Villagers say they have been overrun by disorientated motorists trying to make their way to to the nearby museum within the industrial village Unesco World Heritage site.

There are main roads which lead to the tourist attraction - but sat-navs are sending motorists "around the houses" through the village. The ex-events organiser, who's lived in the house next to the road for 10 years, got fed-up with giving drivers directions.

And after the numbers of lost motorists "shot right up" this summer he decided to make his own "heritage brown" signs. Nigel said: "I modelled them on approved attraction signs and made them to quiet a high standard, they look offical.

"There was instantly a ninety percent reduction - it's amazing to think a 62-year-old year old man with a paint brush and a bicycle can effect a 90 percent reduction in traffic.

"Everyone in the street was really pleased with them but I had the forger's dilema because they thought the council were responsible."

He still sees four or five drivers trying to go around the back of the houses to reach the museum - but it has been much quieter since he made his signs.

Local Torfaen council are currently making their own set of signs - but they inspected Nigel's and they can stay up in the meantime.

A council spokesman said: "Having carried out further investigations it seems that some sat navs do direct people incorrectly via Forgeside. However, this mainly appears to be an issue with older models and we are currently designing signage to try and prevent this."