UPDATED 1PM

THIS Worcester councillor is waging his own campaign over congestion - with a big banner to hammer home his hard-hitting message.

Councillor Richard Udall, who represents St John's, has spent years bemoaning city hold-ups and calling for the completion of a ring road around Worcester.

Now he's created this banner with 'Worcestershire Traffic Chaos' emblazoned on the top, saying he feels the jams have gone too far.

The unveiling of the banner has sparked a row among opposing political parties, with the Labour man today accused of "talking down" Worcester.

Councillor Udall says the intention is for the sign, which blames public sector funding cuts for the problems, to appear at prominent locations around the county.

Worcestershire County Council's leadership has responded by calling it "over the top".

Councillor John Smith, the cabinet member responsible for transport and highways, said: "I haven't seen it myself but something like that is over the top.

"If you go to any of the towns and cities, you will get traffic, if there wasn't any we'd be wondering why not."

The criticism has led to Councillor Udall, who chairs County Hall's Labour group, calling him "out of touch".

"He is not the person faced with the daily consequences of being late for work - it's total and utter complacency," he said.

"This banner will be available to any members of the (Labour) group as and when they need it, I'll be searching for a prominent location for it."

Councillor Udall has blamed budget cuts for some of the problems, pointing to public transport provision being damaged by the loss of Perdiswell's park and ride and the worsening bus service subsidy.

Tory Councillor Marc Bayliss, who is deputy leader of the city council and part of the leadership at County Hall, called it "pathetic".

"I'm fed up of Richard Udall talking Worcester down, this is pure theatrics and publicity in its worst form if this is how he raises issues," he said.

"As a colleague representing the west side of Worcester (Councillor Bayliss represents Bedwardine) it's about time he talked it up, instead of doing this."

The county council decided to axe the park and ride in September 2014 as part of a plan to save £1.6 million from public transport.

The loss-making site cost taxpayers £296,870 to keep running in its final year after usage declined by nearly 50 per cent to 274,935 annual trips.

The county was also considering scrapping an entire £3 million yearly subsidy for bus routes but after an unprecedented 8,500 responses in a public consultation, decided to keep £1.1 million on the table.

Of the 97 routes under threat it meant only 13 stopped running altogether, but the majority took out stops and reduced in frequency to carry on, making the services worse.

Councillor Pat Agar recently compared it to "Swiss cheese", saying she felt the bus network was "full of holes" during a meeting with transport officers at County Hall.