Councillors are unhappy that promised road signs warning motorists of ducks using a village pool have been dropped.
Burbage Parish Council says the local ducks near the Horsepool, in Church Street, will have to continue dodging drivers.
The county's highways authority claims there aren't enough ducks to justify the expense and that more road signs would clutter the road.
The parish council says duck families take up residence on the Horsepool and, at least in the summer nesting season, are incautious when the youngsters go walkabout.
After one recent collision, a duck was left with a broken wing.
It was rescued and is now being cared for, but will never fly in the wild again.
Highways bosses maintain the route isn't heavily used by through traffic, which is disputed by the parish council. And anyway, say the county experts, signs picturing a duck family waddling over the road probably wouldn't do much to save the feathers from flying and would only distract drivers.
The county councillor for the area, Keith Lynch, who also sits on the parish council, said he had a positive response when he first asked County Hall bosses for signs.
He said: "I had an e-mail from officers saying it was not a problem. But, in June, I had another e-mail saying that, in effect, they wouldn't be putting them up because of the cost involved, saying it would clutter the area with signs and because there were hardly any ducks there.
"Admittedly, the issue is mainly around the spring and summer when the ducks are there and you often see a column of ducklings wandering down the road."
Coun Lynch checked and found just two road signs near the Horsepool, one 20 yards away and the other 40 yards away.
He said: "But when I e-mailed them again in November, they said the same thing and added that there was no guarantee motorists would pay attention to the signs
"The parish council has even offered to pay for the signs and I asked what it would cost if the county council supplied and fitted the signs.
"It's a very silly situation and I can't believe the bureaucratic nonsense behind the refusal."
A county council spokesman said: "We are under a lot of pressure from the Government and others to reduce signs clutter and are resisting signs that serve no purpose, no matter who pays for them. There is no evidence that these ducks crossing present a hazard to traffic or that people will take any notice of the signs and therefore do not believe that they should be added to the street scene."
