Families are demanding Redbridge and Waltham Forest councils put their heads together to improve safety at a narrow junction.

Rita O’Sullivan, 47, lives in Elm Terrace, High Elms, Woodford Green which sits on the corner of the junction with Elm Grove and The Square on the border of the two boroughs.

She says cars are regularly cutting across the pavement to get past each other during the school run, endangering passers-by.

Last Monday she arrived home to find a concrete pillar at the end of her driveway had been demolished by a motorist trying to squeeze round the bend.

She said: “It’s bedlam out there and I have seen several near misses and scrapes.

“We only finished building the new wall last Monday afternoon, but someone must have hit it on Monday evening and knocked it down.

“If you stand on the corner there you really take your life into your own hands and it’s high time something was done to make the junction safe.”

Mrs O’Sullivan has written to both Redbridge and Waltham Forest councils about the issue and, on Friday, she and her neighbours will be meeting with their MP Iain Duncan Smith to discuss the issue.

Neighbour Paul Shelley, 64, said: “I saw a fence by Rita’s house demolished in 2007 before she moved in.

“It’s chaos every morning. I manage my day to ensure I don’t have to get in or out of my drive during the busy times.

“I would like to see a one way system introduced and maybe some bollards to prevent cars mounting the pavement.”

A solution to the problem seemed close in 2007 after a consultation by Redbridge council revealed 54 per cent of people in roads near the junction supported the introduction of a one-way system.

Work on the scheme was due to begin in 2008.

But Mr Shelley said: “Apparently residents in Elm Grove which falls under Waltham Forest’s jurisdiction decided they didn’t want it and it never happened.

“We just want everyone to look at the issue, cut through the bureaucracy and come up with a solution.”

A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said: "The majority of the roads involved fall under Redbridge's jurisdiction, but we will be sending an officer to discuss concerns with residents and Iain Duncan Smith on Friday."

Redbridge council has been asked to comment.

VIDEO: A lorry hits cones placed by Mrs O'Sullivan's damaged wall as it rounds the corner into Elm Grove