A developer may be forced to widen a village road after a complaint was made that it is narrower than it used to be following the construction of three bungalows - making it difficult to accommodate meeting traffic and putting pedestrians at risk.
A photo of New Road, an unclassified highway between Barwick and Stoford, was showed when South Somerset District Council's Area South Committee met recently, and the current width was reported to range from 4.55 metres to 5 metres.
A report for councillors stated: "Historical records held by Somerset County Highways are inconclusive in respect to the original width of the carriageway."
But the report also stated that plans approved at the outline planning stage showed the road to be five metres wide.
But the county area surveyor was quoted as saying in the report: "It would be difficult to prove now that the developer has encroached onto the highway using our sketchy highway records."
Councillors were left with a difficult decision, and also heard that the width of a pen line on the relevant site plans could result in an error on the ground of up to 0.5 metres.
An oral report at the beginning of proceedings said that the county council had found no evidence of encroachment, which led enforcement planner Robert Hughes to recommend no enforcement action.
But councillor Nick Speakman took issue and said: "This is not a small issue for people living there." He said the issue of encroachment was irrelevant as approved plans at the planning stage put the agreed width at five metres.
Councillor Peter Gubbins, however, pointed to the fact that the highway surveyor had already agreed the current arrangement following site visits.
Councillor Alan Cornelius said the council had heard so many "powerful speeches" from the county council about safe routes to school.
"This is no longer a safe route," he concluded.
After further deliberation it was decided to defer the matter so further investigations could be carried out.