TRAFFIC lights at one of Hereford's most notorious traffic bottlenecks will not be removed, a council infrastructure boss has said.

Councillor Philip Price, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for infrastructure, revealed to colleagues that Highways England – formerly the Highways Agency – have looked into the possibility of removing lights on the Belmont island near the Asda superstore.

However, the body found that such a measure "would not resolve the traffic problems".

Cllr Price was responding to a question put to him ahead of a meeting of full council last Friday by a member of the public, John Harrington, who asked why the council had not taken Highways England up on a free assessment of whether lights on the island could be removed.

In a written response, Cllr Price said: "The council has not turned down any offer of such work made by Highways England.

"Indeed, we have worked closely with Highways England to develop a robust transport strategy for Hereford.

"While the studies that Highways England choose to carry out is a matter for that organisation to determine, I am aware that they have assessed the impact of removing the traffic lights at the Asda/Belmont junction and concluded that such a change would not resolve the traffic problems."