Traffic lights at busy Newbury junction still out of action after five days

"Challenging" repair on walk-to-school route

TRAFFIC lights at a busy Newbury road junction remain out of action five days after they failed, due to “challenging” repair work, says the local council.

The traffic lights, at the junction of Bartholomew Street and Pound Street, on a busy walk to school route near St Bartholomew’s school, failed last Thursday (May 12), including the pedestrian crossing signals.

West Berkshire Council said last week the lights had been classed as an urgent, priority repair, scheduled for the following morning (Friday).

However the lights remained out of order today (Monday) and the council issued the following statement this afternoon:

“Having been repaired earlier on Friday a different fault caused the lights to fail again on Friday afternoon,” said Martin Dunscombe, a council spokesman.

“Most traffic signals are fixed within a few hours but this fault is a particularly challenging one and has been caused by a cable which keeps shorting.”

“An engineer has been on site since 10am today (Monday) trying to identify the cause of the shorting and we are working as quickly as we can to have the fault repaired and crossing operational.”

The pedestrian crossing at the lights had been closed he said, with signs erected advising both motorists and pedestrians that the crossing was out of order.

“In the meantime, there are pedestrian crossings nearby which can be used,” he added.

Residents near the lights have reported hearing loud tooting horns from several vehicles during the lights failure and also a nuisance motorbike speeding back and forth through the affected area over the weekend, late at night.

A group of joyriding youths on four bicycles have also been seen weaving across the same area late at night, including two youths sharing one bicycle.