AN unofficial diversion through an East Cleveland village is a recipe for a potential disaster, a councillor has warned.

Loftus Bank on the A174 is closed for nine weeks during the final phase of repairs following a landslip last year.

The official diversion takes motorists onto the A171 Guisborough to Whitby road and adds an extra eight miles to journeys.

But some drivers are taking a diversion through Carlin How and Skinningrove. They then travel up the road from Skinningrove beach to the cliffs known locally as Boothroyd's Bank, which comes out at North Terrace, Loftus.

East Cleveland councillor Steve Kay is concerned about the dangers of this because of the state of the bank and said he has been inundated with complaints from angry villagers.

He fears that motorists are dicing with death by taking the steep, winding bank and admits to have been nearly caught out driving his own car.

He said: "The council knew this would be widely used and did some preparation work. They filled the ditches with grey hardcore to stop people going into the ditch.

"But this hardcore is now all over the road - it is a hazard in its own right."

Andy Hyams, deputy director of Technical Services at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said the council was not aware of any problems at Boothroyd's Bank.

"Obviously the bank is being used by a fair amount of traffic and we hope that drops off, as we feel at the moment people on long distance journeys may not realise the bank is closed."