Highways chiefs are to publish proposals shortly to switch off dangerous traffic lights on the A64 near York.

They follow an Evening Press survey which reveal that the scheme to close the central reservation gap at Copmanthorpe and build an underpass for local traffic cannot come soon enough.

A dozen drivers jumped red lights in an hour yesterday afternoon on the west-bound carriageway - an average of one every five minutes.

Six lorries, three vans and three cars either could not - or would not - stop when the lights turned amber and then red on their approach to the junction. The survey was conducted in relatively light traffic and in good weather conditions.

Arthritic pensioner Clifford Shepherd, 84, who regularly crosses the dual carriageway in his motorised scooter at the lights, backs the new proposals.

"It would be a wonderful thing - it would be ideal for people like me," said Mr Shepherd, of Copmanthorpe, who crosses the lights to get to the nearby Tesco store and also visit his wife at a home in Acomb.

"At the moment, I just have to hope for the best."

The vulnerable pensioner said he had done his own survey on one occasion and had counted 15 drivers jumping red lights in 45 minutes.

There have been numerous accidents at the lights, including a fatal smash in 1995 when 19-year-old villager Stuart Elliott was killed while he was crossing the gap and was struck by a police car going to an emergency. The Highways Agency went out to public consultation on proposals to close the lights and put in an underpass last year.

Now a spokesman says that formal orders will be published shortly, probably in the middle or towards the end of July.

Formal objections will be invited, and if there are significant objections, a public inquiry would probably be needed. If the scheme then won the go-ahead, construction would commence when funds were available.

The removal of the lights is the second major safety improvement being proposed for the A64 York-Tadcaster road. The agency is also planning to shut the gap in the central reservation at Bilbrough following two fatal accidents and a concerted campaign by the Evening Press.

Police warned today that traffic light regulations applied on the A64 as much any other junction, and said blatant offenders had been, and would be, booked.

See COMMENT Killer junction lights must go

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