CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after controversial plans for traffic lights on Stony Lane in Burton were postponed yet again.

The £140,000 proposal from Dorset County Council to put traffic lights either side of the railway bridge, making traffic flow one-way, was due to start on March 24.

But following representations from parish, borough and county councillors as well as a petition led by resident Sue Bussell, the scheme has been deferred to allow highway chiefs to look at flood alleviation methods for the deluged road.

The works have already been postponed once in October last year until the outcome of the Morrisons supermarket scheme and proposed roundabout improvements were known. Since then, Stony Lane has been closed on and off for the past three months, due to flooding, and still remains closed.

The deferral of the works was announced at a meeting of Burton Parish Council on Monday night.

Parish council chairman, Judy Jamieson, pictured, said she met with the leader of Dorset County Council, Cllr Spencer Flower, last week and told him the proposals were ‘ludicrous’ without first trying to see whether anything could be done about the floods.

“As I understand it, this is now being looked at because it would seem stupid to spend thousands on doing that when the real issue is the flooding,” she told the Daily Echo.

Cllr David Jones, county council member for Burton and Grange added: “I am very pleased that the county council has agreed to defer the works because obviously there is a huge and self-evident need for flood alleviation measures.

“However, I hope that during this time the county will be persuaded that while there is a need for the flood alleviation methods there is absolutely no need for this waste of tax payers’ money.”

As part of the proposals, the shared footpath under the railway bridge was due to be widened to accommodate disability scooter users, parents with buggies and cyclists.