I READ about the efforts of the council's traffic group to improve traffic flows within Morecambe and Lancaster with a wry smile.

Any motorist who travels regularly between the two towns knows that the single most beneficial act towards achieving this end would be to remove the disastrous Scale Hall traffic lights.

As you sit in the never-ending traffic queue there is always plenty of time to ponder at the chaos this engineering 'solution' has created.

Most people believe all that was required to improve the position was to extend the bus lane to Scale Hall Lane and widen the mouth of the junction. The over-engineered and over-complicated solution provided is a failure however you measure it.

o The queues on Scale Hall Lane are as long or longer than before with the result that more people are 'rat-running' through the Ryelands estate.

o Despite the fact that the work was intended to improve bus movements there is no priority for buses at the signals. I would doubt if one extra minute has been saved by public service vehicles since the lights were switched on.

o Environmentally the scheme has been a disaster, turning a pretty corner into an eyesore with a lengthy concrete island, multi-coloured tarmac strips and a positive forest of new lights and traffic poles. The overall result is an ineffective mess that frustrates thousands of people daily in a way we have never experienced before.

I have sent a copy of this letter to the county highways department, who I imagine will say that the scheme is a great success. Having spent many thousands of pounds on it I don't suppose anyone will be prepared to admit it was a mistake.

Stuck in the Queue (name and address supplied).