PHUKET: About 300 residents turned out in east Phuket tonight to burn car tyres and partially block a major Phuket road where they say darkness has caused three deaths.

The residents, mostly villagers from Moo One, want street lights restored along Phuket's main artery that runs east from the Heroine's Monument.

They say the absence of lighting since the road was widened three months ago has led to three needless road deaths, and that pedestrians cannot be seen by motorists who are travelling faster now the road is better.

Long tailbacks marked the site of the protest tonight, but residents said that passersby travelling both ways mostly understood the issue and were not complaining.

''We did not hold the protest during the day because there are lots of tourists using the road in daylight to visit the waterfall, golf courses, marinas and other attractions on this side of Phuket,'' a spokesperson said.

''So we did not start our protest until 7pm.'' Protesters eventually allowed normal traffic to resume just before 11pm.

Residents say they had proper street lighting when the road was narrow, but somehow the need for lighting had been overlooked when the road was widened.

Efforts were being made tonight to find out who was responsible for lighting the road.