Sat-nav usually takes the shortest route to a destination

Residents in Barrow Gurney claim 10,000 vehicles a day are going through the centre to get to Bristol Airport.

The airport's official directions take traffic onto the A38, but sat-nav users may select alternative routes to avoid jams which send them through villages.

Parish council chairman Geoff Coombs said it had a knock-on effect for communities like Barrow Gurney.

"I think there really should be some special dispensation not to route these very high volumes of traffic through small villages close to facilities such as airports," he said.

Makers of the TomTom system said: "Drivers are given various means of deciding the route to take and also have the opportunity to receive live traffic updates to make it as easy as possible to avoid congestion problems.

"If a driver ever feels that they are being directed down an inappropriate road then the TomTom can quickly re-route them."