A PETITION calling for traffic lights at a busy city roundabout has gathered more than 500 signatures in less than a week.

Teresa Hammill, who started the petition, said traffic regularly stretches all the way from Worcester's Ketch roundabout to Kempsey at rush hour.

Mrs Hammill, who lives in Kempsey, said: "Everyone's furious about it.

"It's virtually impossible to get onto the roundabout unless you get a kind generous soul to let you out.

"Sometimes it's like taking your life into your own hands, you edge out to try and get across. There's always a risk of a crash. Lately it's getting worse and worse when coming from Kempsey.

"You have cars queuing all the way back on the A38. You actually queue half way to Kempsey, or even into Kempsey."

Mrs Hammill said she thinks the problem is getting worse because of the rising number of cars on the roads.

She added that it has become particularly bad in the last couple of weeks due to the Severn Trent Water roadworks on Norton Road.

The 44-year-old complained that cars coming from the bypass to Carrington Bridge often block the Kempsey exit of the roundabout.

Mrs Hammill envisioned that there would be traffic lights at each exit on the roundabout, ensuring a steady flow of traffic.

She set up the petition on Wednesday last week, after residents expressed anger about the situation on the Spotted Kempsey Facebook group.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said: “The final phase of works on the Southern Link Road scheme commenced earlier this month.

"Completion of the dualling between the Ketch and Powick Roundabout together with improvements to the roundabout approach lanes on the A38 will enable traffic to join, circulate around and leave the roundabouts much more efficiently.

"We would urge residents to visit our designated latest updates page for the scheme, to keep up to date with the project as it progresses. This provides access to videos and artist impressions visualising how the scheme will look when complete.”

Anyone who wants to sign the petition can go on https://bit.ly/2FypjW4