THE councillor in charge of Worcestershire's roads has admitted to being "concerned" at the Ketch roundabout saga - and admitted the island will need changes to satisfy irate drivers.

Councillor John Smith, who sits in the Conservative leadership at County Hall, told your Worcester News he fears the only way to completely resolve the problems would be to dual the Carrington Bridge.

Two sections of the derided new-look £8 million island remain coned off while road chiefs examine the outcome of an independent safety audit, a process which has continued all this week.

Councillor Smith said: "I've been to look at it myself two or three times, I think there are tweaks we need to do at the island.

"But in an ideal world we'd dual that Carrington Bridge, what's happened is they've tried to get two lanes (around the Ketch island) to go into one.

"It was designed ideally to do the whole lot.

"We've just got to wait for the safety audit to be done - at the end of the day, we are all concerned if the public are concerned."

It emerged this afternoon that neither Councillor Smith or Simon Geraghty, the Tory deputy leader and cabinet member responsible for infrastructure, have seen the audit yet, with the work led entirely by staff.

It came as the council faced more criticism from drivers for the layout, which has led to a Facebook video being viewed 84,000 times and 1,250 people signing a petition.

Councillor Richard Boorn said: "We rely on these officers for advice on planning applications all around the county, I'm not convinced we challenge them enough.

"How can you have any confidence in them?"

The video on social media shows drivers braking harshly after trying to exit the island to cross Carrington Bridge and filter from two lanes into one.

That right hand merger lane has now been coned off, as has the right lane approach to the island from Norton roundabout due to public safety concerns.

A spokesman for the county council today said the authority was now "reviewing" the results of the safety audit before releasing any details.

Jon Fraser, head of highways at the council, said: "We are currently finalising the details from the review of the safety audit findings.

"As soon as we are able to share more information with the public we will do so."