RESIDENTS in a tiny village are blaming a sat-nav `short cut' for sending truck drivers and other motorists down an ancient dirt-track and to a shuddering halt on the hills above Oldham.

Some manage to make it to the other side but count the cost after the treacherous track, which is narrow, muddy, often rocky and unsuitable for most ordinary cars, has battered their vehicles.

Others have been left in tears after becoming stranded in the desolate spot where it is difficult to turn a car around. And some have had to be dragged out by a tractor. Each has the same excuse - they were following directions from their satellite navigation systems.

The sat-navs are apparently directing drivers down the track as a moorland shortcut to the A62.

Now those who live near Hey Flake Lane in Delph are demanding Oldham council act now to stop more motorist misery.

They want signs placed at the entrance to the dirt-track warning of the dangers and telling motorists to ignore their sat- navs. Residents and local councillors also say the impact on the path is causing underground water pipes to break and is making conditions increasingly hazardous for walkers, cyclists and horses.

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Michael and Minda Wigley live on a nearby farm.

They have had knocks on their door from stranded motorists pleading for help. Minda said: "It can be a very, very lonely place.

"We have had van drivers reduced to tears. Once you've gone half way down nobody can see you. And if the weather closes in - as it does up here - you're in a mess.

"The mobile phone signal here is temperamental so you could be stranded."

Michael said: "It is mainly delivery drivers who are not from the area. And they all say their sat-navs have sent them down."

Saddleworth councillor Ken Hulme, said: "Currently only the most robust four-wheel-drive vehicles and tractors can successfully navigate the lane."

Oldham council said they were aware of the problem and would be discussing plans to put a sign at the end of the path warning of the danger.

A spokeswoman for sat-nav firm TomTom said that it may be a case of the road classification being wrong.

She said: "TomTom takes mapping very seriously and we offer a map improvement facility as part of our product."

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