SEVERN Trent have been forced to apologise after one of their contractors set up three way traffic lights without permission on the junction of Station Road and Mayfield Road in Pershore on Monday (April 8).
Residents in Pershore demanded answers after the lights caused traffic ‘chaos’ for much of the day.
According to Worcestershire County Councillor, Dan Boatright-Green, traffic was left to build up in all directions, including up to Wyre Road and down the residential side of Apple Tree Road.
After Coun Dan Boatright-Greene, flagged the issue, Severn Trent Water were asked to remove the lights as no prior agreement or permit had been requested for this type of traffic management.
They were removed at 4pm, around six hours after they had been set up.
Councillor Boatright-Greene said: “Not satisfied with clogging our rivers with sewage, Severn Trent took it upon themselves to clog up our road network with traffic.
“The absolute chaos caused by Severn Trent yesterday was unacceptable. I was caught in it on my way to a meeting and reported to the council straight away.
“What made no sense was the lack of any staff in attendance. There were traffic lights and cones but nothing going on.
“Why would you block off a main road with no permit and then leave the area unattended”
“Severn Trent need to apologise, explain what happened and reassure residents that this will not happen again.
“A huge thank you to the Highways team for addressing the issue as quickly but this should not happen in the first place. We need to get tougher on these types of incidents. They are all too frequent and it is residents who suffer.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson said:
“We’d like to apologise for the disruption caused by these temporary traffic lights.
“While work is planned to go ahead on the junction, unfortunately the lights were set up ahead of schedule.
“We’re really sorry about this, and we will now be liaising with the highways department to confirm a suitable return date, when we will minimise the impact of any works.”
