Traffic perils on a “bizarrely dangerous” road could get even worse if plans to build a major scientific headquarters at the University of Reading go ahead, a neighbour has warned.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) wants to move its 300-person headquarters from Shinfield to a large new building on the university’s Whiteknights campus in Earley. But neighbours say congestion has already made nearby roads dangerous.

Halina Wielogorska said Holmes Road is already “plagued with reckless driving” by motorists trying to dodge congestion near the campus.

“I assure you I do not write this objection lightly,” she said in a message to Wokingham Borough Council planning officers. “I have lived in London for the last 15 years and I have never lived on a road that feels so bizarrely dangerous as this.”

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The ECMWF has had its international headquarters at Shinfield Park since 1979. There, 297 people from around the world carry out weather forecasting and research backed by 23 European governments including Britain.

But centre leaders have wanted to move for more than a decade – and have chosen the University of Reading as a location for a brand new building.

If proposals get planning permission, the flash new headquarters will be built on the south east edge of the university campus, accessed from Whiteknights Road.

Yet Wokingham Borough Council has had ten letters of objection from neighbours who say nearby streets already get dangerously overloaded with cars at peak times.

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David Reid of Earley Hill Road said: “The main problem I can see is there is no provision for the significant increase in traffic particularly during peak hours affecting Whiteknights Road and Wilderness Road.

“Redlands road with local school and University has too much traffic on it already, and is dangerously solid with traffic.”

He added: “These issues have never been addressed by the council, and we don't believe you can justify putting more traffic congestion and strain on the situation.”

Developers admitted that Whiteknights Road and Wilderness Road already “operate over capacity,” in a planning statement submitted to Wokingham Borough Council. But they say their own studies found traffic coming into the new headquarters would have “minimal impact” on this.

Plans were submitted to Wokingham Borough Council in October by the Government Property Agency, which would build the headquarters on behalf of the ECMWF.

Its planning statement warns that highly skilled jobs could leave the borough and even the country if the ECMWF can’t build its new headquarters at the university.