Residents say their children can no longer play in the two streets

Briton Road and Saxon Road in Faversham were the regional winners of Transport 2000's Rat-Run 2003 competition.

The judges said the problem was caused by drivers using the roads as short cuts to schools and the town centre.

Residents living on the two terraced residential streets said the traffic had made their lives "unbearable".

Children who try to play outside soon have to give up because of the relentless traffic Amanda Thesiger, of Kingsfield Traffic Action Group

The competition to find the worst rat-run was organised by Transport 2000, the sustainable transport group Sustrans and the Big Issue magazine.

The panel said although traffic volumes were not high in Briton Road and Saxon Road by national standards, rat-running was having an obvious impact on the fabric of the community.

Neighbours no longer met each other on the street because people did not use the roads to walk and children did not play on the streets.

Amanda Thesiger, of Kingsfield Traffic Action Group, said: "Children who try to play outside soon have to give up because of the relentless traffic.

Race tracks

"They can't use the space at the front of the houses at all."

Julia Samson, from Transport 2000, said: "Rat-running is dangerous and totally disrespectful of the people who live in the area.

"Residential roads are intended for local journeys only and weren't designed for hundreds of cars an hour.

"They should be places where neighbours can meet and talk and children can play after school - not race tracks for people in a hurry."

Judges decided the worst street in the country was Wykeham Street in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, with Dukes Avenue in Muswell Hill, north London, coming in second.