MORE than 60 protesters gathered at Newtown crossroads on Saturday to oppose plans for traffic lights at the busy junction.

The protest had been planned to co-incide with a site visit by Yarkhill Parish Council but that was put back to a date still to be announced.

Stephen Morgan, the owner of Newtown Garage and himself a member of the parish council, said he was disappointed the site visit had been postponed.

He said: "The parish council is there to represent parishoners."

Mr Morgan, who is also chairman of the No Lights at Newtown Group, said he had not been told that the site visit had been halted in advance of last Saturday's well-publicised protest.

The council says it called off the visit because of safety fears over the large number of people at the junction and concerns that the protest would distract councillors going about their business.

Instead of traffic lights, the action group is calling for Herefordshire Council to narrow the Leominster road at the junction, so motorists can no longer negotiate the turning side by side.

Protesters are also calling for visibility at the junction to be improved in the Worcester direction.

l People gather at Newtown crossroads to protest about a proposal to install traffic lights at the junction.

Picture by Jay Watson. 04025001