U-turn over town traffic lights plea

Traffic lights are to be installed at one of Oswestry's most notorious road junctions after decades of campaigning.

Work will start on the lights, at the Salop Road and Middleton Road/Roft Street junction by the end of March.

This year Shropshire County Council said it did not have the funding to carry out the work on what is one of the main routes into Oswestry town centre within this year's budget.

But town councillors were told last night there had been a change of heart.

In June councillors had demanded that officials from the county council attended a meeting to explain why the work had not gone ahead in the summer as promised.

Councillor Gareth Jones, who has been campaigning for lights at the junction for about 20 years, said: "This is excellent news. The junction is the most dangerous in Oswestry and the work to put in traffic lights really can't start soon enough."

The former bus driver said the junction was so bad he now refused to use it.

Hugh Dannatt, the county council's group manager, traffic and highway engineering, said: "We are aware that many residents have been concerned about this junction, and hope these works will make the junction safer."