AN infamous slip-road dubbed the most "dangerous" in Worcester has finally been axed - delighting drivers.

After it opened in 2012 the £1.3 million Whittington island slip-lane has been a bane of commuter's lives, with 700 people signing a petition to try and get it removed.

But the weird left-turn off the M5, which forced drivers to crank their necks sharply to the right, is no longer.

Worcestershire County Council has now removed the cones and unveiled a new route which allows motorists to carry on without stopping at the island, as they head down the A4440 Southern Link Road.

The move brings an end to years of controversy around Whittington island's revamp which saw the slip-lane introduced, leading to a backlash.

After campaigners blamed the route for car shunts council chiefs agreed a package of extra safety measures at the site, which included painting the slip-lane bright yellow to make it stand out - leading to it being dubbed the 'yellow brick road'.

It was also given high friction anti-skid surfacing to help vehicles brake quicker, and extra signs were erected to alert drivers to the slip-lane, as the image below from 2015 shows.

Worcester News:

The launch of the new left turn is part of the massive £42 million dualling of the link road, which is due to carry on until 2019.

Jon Fraser, head of highways at the county council, said: "We've taken the cones off the slip-road and opened the new route up so there's two lanes going down to the railway bridge."

The move has pleased city drivers, with many of them saying they refused to use the old slip-road after bad experiences at the island.

Motorist Mandy Vickers, 51, of St Peter’s, who uses it daily to travel to Birmingham, said: "When Whittington island was changed it did help the traffic coming off the motorway but the slip-road was a problem.

"Everybody stopped using it, so those that did brave it ended up having near misses all the time with other drivers.

"I lost count of the amount of times I crooked my neck trying to look over my shoulder, it was a joke."

Driver Paul Mettrick, 31, of Masefield Close, Worcester, said: "It was awful - every time you used it, it felt uncomfortable.

"I saw an accident there once, and loads of close misses - it didn't feel very safe."

The current dualling project will result in two lanes running in either direction all the way from the M5 to Carrington Bridge.

Council chiefs then want to dual the actual bridge, with a £70 million funding bid currently lodged with the Government.