The new road layout of the controversial Copcut junction has now been introduced, almost two months after improvement work from the Worcestershire County Council was finished.

Traffic cones had remained in place since works on the Droitwich road were completed in late August, blocking off one the southbound lanes of the A38.

The Worcester News revealed earlier this month that the new layout of the A38 Copcut/Pulley Lane Junction was 'under review' by the County Council until "final adjustments" were made to the junction.

In a previous statement, a County Council spokesman, said: "We are in the process of completing a review of those works and the re-designed layout.

"Once this is completed and any final adjustments are made, we will provide a further update."

However, the 'traffic management' cones were removed this morning (Wednesday) by highways officers and the new layout was fully introduced for the first time since the work was completed.

But there are still plenty of residents that remain sceptical over the fresh design of the junction.

Droitwich residents raised fresh concerns over the new layout last month, with many criticising the lack of progression from the previous layout.

Councillors reviewed the A38 Copcut/Pulley Lane Junction after two major crashes earlier on this year, with many citing the previous works that were carried out last September as a partial cause for the crashes.

A motorcyclist and his passenger were seriously injured in January, and a man was taken to hospital after hitting a wall and telegraph pole in February.

Although an investigation found that the previous layout wasn't at fault, work was completed during three overnight closures late last month, and the northbound A38 entrance was adapted to be a single lane through the junction with an extended right turn lane into Pulley Lane.

The southbound A38 retained its two lanes, with a slightly longer merge length and increased separation between the merging vehicles and northbound traffic added. 

A statement from the County Council released at the time said that the new layout aimed to "address concerns raised, whilst maximising the available capacity within the junction".

Droitwich County Councillor Richard Morris previously defended the plans, saying that the matter was being dealt with by the people who knew how to best handle the situation.

He said: "County highways have taken on a lot of the feedback in trying to find a solution to the junction.

"There's no way to please everyone and everyone's got a different point of view – but highways are the people who have the knowledge and have access to the best way of handling things. We have to trust that."

He added: "This isn’t the only situation that has been an issue around the county in terms of developer led highway works. There is something that needs to be looked into on how highways work with developers to bring the work to a satisfactory end."