A traffic planner has slammed a council for installing 24-hour traffic lights at a junction with the A1M that are a “needless waste of money”.

Roy Worden of Leaves Spring, Stevenage criticised Herts County Council for the sets of lights on the roundabout at Junction 7 of the motorway which were switched on last week. The daily commuter to Hatfield said the lights are unnecessary and harmful to the environment.

He said: “Today in most DIY stores you can buy electricity timers for a multitude of tasks and I’m sure if the traffic planners at Hertfordshire County Council looked hard enough they would find one which would turn off the new traffic lights during the night when there is little or no traffic to control. This would save electricity, at the same time reducing the Co2 emissions from cars and lorries which have to stop needlessly at the red lights when no other traffic is around.”

He added that the roundabout already controlled traffic effectively. “Roundabouts were designed to keep the traffic moving without the need to stop needlessly for red traffic light, the roundabout in question has been coping for many years without the need for any lights.

“It’s true the junction does get busy in the rush hour but all the traffic lights in Hertfordshire will not enable the traffic to move any quicker. The problem is the A1M’s two lanes cannot cope with the amount of traffic.”

“It’s just more needless waste of money.”

A spokesman at County Hall said the lights were necessary for two reasons.

“First to deal with the traffic congestion caused by vehicles accessing and leaving the new Glaxo site and second on safety grounds. It is statistically proven from similar sites that there are fewer accidents when permanent traffic lights are used rather than temporary or peak only signals.

“The signals use energy efficient low power LED lights which last longer than older-style lights and use 20 per cent less power,” she added.