Pedestrians’ Fury After Traffic Lights Fail

A woman says she was nearly run over while trying to cross a busy junction in Market Harborough after traffic lights failed.

She is one of a number of pedestrians who have hit out at Severn Trent Water, for failing to deal with the issue several hours after the fault was reported.

Christine Ryder, who walks with a mobility aid, told HFM: “I tried to cross when I saw no vehicles were coming, but as I was in the middle of the road a lorry came round the corner and had to make an emergency stop to avoid hitting me.

“I am appalled that nothing has been done to fix the lights.  Pedestrians are taking life into their own hands trying to cross.”

Temporary traffic lights failed at a busy junction in Market Harborough

The temporary traffic lights, which have replaced the main signals at the St Mary’s Road/Kettering Road/Clarence Street junction, failed just before midday.

They have been in place for work by Severn Trent Water and despite the company being contacted about the outage, the lights were still out at 5pm.

Robin Fowler was also trying to cross the road and told HFM: “Whoever is responsible for this has a complete disregard for highway safety. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Severn Trent Water has been approached for comment.

Leicestershire County Council, responsible for issuing work permits to utility companies, told HFM it was aware of the issue and was working with Severn Trent Water to ‘manage’ it.