Fleetwood lights failure safety fears

Residents are concerned about the safety of the junction outside Fleetwood Library.

Steve Lyton, boss at Granada Fish Bar in Fleetwood, said it is lucky nobody has been seriously hurt on the North Albert Street crossing.

The traffic lights near Fleetwood Library, which cut across the tram lines through the port, have not worked for months but highways chiefs say they hope to have the problem fixed in the next couple of weeks.

Mr Lynton said: “Last week there was a blind man who nearly walked out into the road and got knocked down.

“Hundreds of people go across there to the market.

“It has been an accident waiting to happen for a long time – it could be children, it could be someone disabled.”

Lancashire County Council said it was aware of the problem but because of the location of the crossing, on the tram line, it needs a bespoke part that is not currently in stock.

But Mr Lynton said he was surprised it was taking so long to fix – and he even contacted the council on Twitter to warn them about it two weeks ago.

He added: “The lights have been out for three or four months now.

“I would hope they are going to carry a spare part for all the other sets of lights now.”

Lancashire County Council said the junction is safe. In the last five years, there has only been one traffic incident causing minor injuries there.

Mark Hornby, Lancashire County Council highways engineer, said: “We’re sorry that the pedestrian crossing has not been working for the last few weeks, which has been due to a problem sourcing parts for the tram-specific signal.

“Now we’re aware of this issue we’ll be keeping some in stock to avoid any delays in future. The parts are due to arrive within the next two weeks and we’ll do the repair immediately.”

The outcry follows a three-car smash at the junction earlier this week, as pictured above. Lancashire Police said nobody was hurt when three vehicles collided close to the crossing at around 4.30pm on Tuesday. It is not suggested the problem with the traffic lights, which control the pedestrian crossing, contributed to the incident.