A “COMPLEX” issue with a set of traffic lights has caused drivers to face confusion at a busy Colchester junction as they have not been working for the second day in a row.

The traffic lights at the junction where Ipswich Road meets Severalls Lane have been out of action since Monday morning.

This has resulted in delays in the area as drivers have had to carefully manoeuvre through the area without the traffic light system in operation.

One driver, who uses the junction every day to get to work and wishes to remain anonymous, is fed-up with the issue.

Ipswich road - an image of when the traffic lights were workingIpswich Road - an image of when the traffic lights were working (Image: Google Maps)

They said: "Traffic generally was still flowing ok but it is really dangerous for drivers trying to turn right from Severalls Lane into Ipswich Road and vice versa. 

"Drivers were having to wait a long time to turn and some cars using Ipswich Road seemed to be driving much faster than 30mph. 

"It is now the third or fourth time the lights have been out in as many months.”

On December 23, 2023, the lights were also out for a two-day period.

A spokesman for Essex Highways has commented on the issue, stating that works were carried out yesterday to try to fix the issue on two separate occasions.

They said: “We are aware of the traffic signals being out since yesterday morning.

“An engineer attended on two occasions yesterday to investigate and replace suspected faulty equipment.

“However, these actions did not resolve the issue and this has therefore turned out to be a very complex fault to resolve.

“Further engineers will be on site later this afternoon with the aim of restoring normal traffic signal operations as quickly as possible.”

Many residents who have faced the lawless traffic lights in Ipswich Road have commented on their experiences, on the Colchester Gazette Facebook.

Matt Wilson believes it’s been beneficial having the lights down.

He said: “I went through there a couple of times yesterday and it was running smoothly without the lights.”

Ash Chambers agreed with the sentiment and said: “I’ve Just been through them an hour ago, everything flowed fine.

“They should really keep them like this to be honest.”

Reader Emma Chaplin said: “Almost as bad as the ones at Brook Street and Magdalen Street crossroads.”