Residents living in a log-jammed Upper Norwood road want the council to install a one-way system before motorists' road rage gets out of hand.

When two vehicles approach each other in Queen Mary Road which links Beulah Hill and Crown Dale they often have to pull into parking spaces in order to get past.

When there are no spaces available a stand off occurs which results in either one vehicle having to reverse all the way back down the road or an argument.

Vincent Ryan, who has lived in the road for 10 years and would like to see it turned into a 20mph zone as cars often speed in an attempt to make it to the other end without having to stop, said: "There's road rage every evening. Once someone was driving at at least 40mph and smashed into the side of a car and drove on.

"People use it as a rat run and it gets chock-a-block virtually every night.

"We feel like we're the forgotten part of the borough."

He added: "I think it will take one of my children getting run over before they'll do anything."

Residents also fear the road will be used as an "over flow car park" when people move into the flats that are being built in nearby Beulah Hill.

And they say introducing a one-way system in other local roads will not alleviate the problem, but simply encourage drivers to use their road instead.

Maria Loureiro, who has lived in the road for 15 years, said: "A one-way system in this road would be more helpful.

"It gets worse and worse in this road.

"When I came in 1991 there wasn't so much traffic but sometimes I get halfway down the road and I have to reverse right back."

But the traffic problems do not just affect people living in the road. Lynn Edwards, who lives in nearby Moore Road, said: "It gets really bad especially when people are picking up their children from school."

London Assembly member Jenny Jones, who is also the mayor of London's road safety ambassador, visited the area recently to meet residents who have signed a petition in a bid to get something done.

"Streets should be for the people who live there, with enough space for their needs, not for motorists who want to rat run to save a few minutes," she said.

Croydon Council plans to extend the single yellow line at the entrance of Queen Mary Road from Crown Dale to enable queuing cars to get in and out.

A council spokesman said: "Residents of Queen Mary Road have presented a petition to the council via their ward member, Councillor Ian Payne.

"The petition calls on the council to make Queen Mary Road one way and consider introducing road humps.

"Receipt of the petition along with officer recommendations will be reported to the next meeting of the traffic management cabinet committee on May 24.

"The meeting will be open to the public and residents of Queen Mary Road can nominate a representative to speak to the cabinet committee.

"The council introduced traffic and road-safety measures into Woodend and the northern section only of Bradley Road in the last financial year and these were part of the school travel plan project associated with St Joseph's Junior School "The measures immediately outside the school and nearby were identified by the school community in its travel plan and are aimed at reducing car-dependent trips by parents and guardians.

"The project was funded by Transport for London and is part of the overall funding the mayor of London provides for green' travel.

"The council has not introduced any measures into Moore Road."