MOTORISTS have been left scratching their heads at traffic lights in Wyre Piddle.

Satellite navigation systems have been blamed for sending drivers through the village, near Pershore, even though it is impossible for them to continue their journey without breaking the law.

Two sets of traffic lights were erected on either side of the railway bridge to prevent the road being used as a through route when a by-pass was opened in December 2002.

Unfortunately for car drivers, the single lane road is not open to them and the lights are set permanently on red, but change to green when buses and emergency vehicles pass through.

Liz Tucker, county councillor for Pershore, raised the matter at a meeting this week.

She said: "Cars and even lorries and vans continue to go through the red lights. It's both a scandal and an accident waiting to happen.

"A car jumping the red lights could collide with a bus or emergency service vehicle using the bridge legitimately."

Cllr Tucker said satellite navigation systems were partly to blame because they were guiding non-local drivers along the old main road through the village.

She said: "Some people are innocently stuck at the lights, thinking that they have broken down. Eventually they decide to go through them on red."

Signs at the entrance to the village say there is no through road, but council officers are looking at placing temporary signs at the bridge saying it can only be used by permitted vehicles.

County council highways manager John Fraser said there had not been any accidents at the bridge but any car or lorry driver who finds themselves at the lights should turn around and go back the way they came.