WORCESTERSHIRE has been swamped with more than 2,000 requests for temporary traffic lights since last April - with utility firms sparking anger by driving key routes to a halt.

Your Worcester News can reveal how Worcestershire County Council is being besieged by firms looking to dig up roads, leading to serious concerns over congestion.

During a debate between Worcester councillors on Wednesday night, it emerged:

- In the nine months from April to December last year County Hall had 2,023 temporary traffic light requests in the county, an eye-watering 56 every single week

- Across Worcestershire more than 11,000 requests have been made for roadworks including utilities in the last 12 months

- Desperate city councillors, who are beware traffic hold-ups have become a major concern in Worcester, have made suggestions such as putting drop-off bays outside new developments like businesses and schools to discourage vehicles from stopping by kerbs, partially-blocking roads

- Some have called for the ditched Northern Link project to be re-visited, saying nothing else will do

Last year Worcester City Council launched a review of congestion, with a group of politicians currently mired in a lengthy investigation expected to conclude this June.

During the work so far they have gathered evidence from various employers, emergency services, the public and the county council, the body responsible for transport, to take stock of the current situation.

Councillor Lynn Denham, who is part of the group, said she was left "stunned" by the data.

"In the nine months from the beginning of this (financial) year the county had 2,023 temporary traffic light applications - that gives you a scale of the problems that can arise," she said.

"And it seems to be the norm rather than an abnormality."

During a city council scrutiny committee meeting, others called for radical action like parking bays on all new developments to avoid situations like Sidbury, where the available road width often shortens due to deliveries.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Liz Smith said: "If there were properly designed drop-off points it would prevent roads narrowing to 50 per cent of its width at key times."

She added: "People could drop their kids off at schools and move on."

Cllr Smith also said more should be done to improve cycle routes around the city.

“If you tried to ride up Bath Road the cycle provision crosses the road three times between St Peter’s island and the Ketch roundabout, and that’s if you stick by the rules,” she said.

“I really do think we ought to come up with something better for a main arterial road.”

Others lamented the Perdiswell park and ride closure of last September.

Labour Councillor Paul Denham said: "By not working together, I think the county council closing down the park and ride has increased congestion in the city and will continue to do so.

"We know, from the figures that the park and ride was getting 900 people a day use it and that use of city council car parks is up by 700, which is good for the council's income but does mean 700 more cars adding to congestion."

He added: “Oxford is hardly on its knees in terms of a poor economy, it’s a thriving city and how does it make park and ride work? It prices car parking very high and makes park and ride reasonable and attractive.

“In Chester, a city I know well, it does not signpost car parks very well, deliberately, and what the council does there is promote park and ride instead – and that’s a thriving county town.

“There will come a point where the congestion in Worcester will start to work against us because people won’t want to come once it gets so bad.”

Tory Councillor Roger Knight called for the ring road completion, saying: "The Southern Link Road (A4440) work won't solve city centre congestion, only completing a proper circular route for traffic will do that.

“Until such time that we build a North West Link we will never have that circular traffic around the city.”

Labour Councillor Geoff Williams, who is part of the review alongside Lynn Denham, Derek Prodger and Steve Mackay, said: “Clearly, we’ve obtained evidence during our work so far that congestion is a significant issue in the city, the blue light services suggested it was increasing.

“There was also a counter argument to that, that congestion could be a sign of economic prosperity in the city, but if you don’t start to tackle congestion, when does it start to undermine that economic activity and businesses?”

The city council review of congestion will run until at least June.

Last night's debate comes after we revealed how the county council admitted it had no idea how many roadworks start on time.

The county council has a duty to schedule each roadworks application around to avoid too many hold-ups at the same time.

That means the dates for them sometimes shift, but many of the projects like gas mains are often seen as emergencies, compared to water works which can often be scheduled weeks in advance.

As we reported last month, drivers in Worcester in particular have been left angry by major projects delaying traffic at the same time north and south of the city centre.

* The county council has been asked for comparable figures on the data from the previous year.