RESIDENTS who suffered a torrent of abuse from KFC customers have taken drastic action and placed a barricade in front of their homes.

People living Petteril Terrace are worried for the safety of their children who enjoy playing on what is usually a quiet, peaceful street.

They were inundated when the fast-food chain opened its London Road drive-thru on Friday. The area around their homes became an overflow carpark for customers who were parking up to eat food they'd purchased at the drive-thru.

Residents have been sworn at and had cars double parked in the road outside their houses. They decided enough was enough towards the end of the first day and parked a car across the street to prevent further disruption.

"It's an accident waiting to happen. It's just carnage," said Wendy Phillips, 43, a mum-of-four, who has lived there for 10 years. "It's absolutely paramount that our kids are safe. It's not a protest to get rid of KFC. It's that measures haven't been taken by KFC. There should have been something in place that would have protected our kids."

Stacie McKnight, 29, moved to the street with her young family four years ago. She said: "It's just a complete loss of privacy. We moved down here because it was so quiet and such a nice community but now we're just getting abuse.

"The main issues is the safety of the kids. They should be able to play outside."

Residents are now considering installing a more permanent barrier in the unadopted road which leads to a dead end.

Meanwhile, those living opposite KFC in Lazonby Terrace have put up signs which read: "No parking for KFC."

Traffic in London Road was brought to a standstill at times on Friday as queuing cars spilled out onto the busy route. Cumbria Police said it received three reports of highway disruption at the weekend.

When asked by the News & Star about its first days of trading, and if anything was being done to ease the burden on residents, a KFC spokesman said: "Since our new KFC opened we’ve had an unbelievable response – we knew we could count on the people of Carlisle.

"No-one likes to be stuck in traffic and we hope our neighbours will come round soon for some KFC chicken.

"We can’t thank everyone enough for their support so far and we’re excited to satisfy the appetite of Carlisle’s KFC fans for years to come."

Litter has also become a problem in the area, though KFC says it undertakes regular litter picks throughout the day to ensure "there is no litter in the immediate area of the restaurant."