LET me assure Mr Clifford there are no bullets in the feet of any Birmingham Road residents.

There was no petition from them for traffic lights and it was obvious to them that whatever needed to be done, traffic lights were not the answer.

Two years ago there was a meeting with the Highways Partnership to which I was invited as secretary of the Bordesley Bypass Action Group and was accompanied by the Chairman, Alf Cotton.

The installation of the lights was a foregone conclusion and there was no room for argument.

We were assured there would be NO tailback of traffic because of the flexibility of operation of the lights and the modern techniques to be incorporated in the design.

I have been secretary of the Bypass Action Group for 15 to 20 years and have been to Westminster twice to put the case to the erstwhile Minister for Roads.

Decisions are made by officials who apparently never see the conditions on the spot and have no conception of the problems.

The traffic normally moves at a fast rate - the present limit is 50mph - and we are awaiting a reduction to 40. There is still no sign of that.

The road was re-surfaced last year to eliminate 'road noise.' I have never heard a complaint about road noise. There is much said about traffic noise, which results from speed and from revving engines and that is now much worse.

Jack Millward

Birmingham Road

Bordesley