HIGHWAYS bosses have finally installed a physical obstruction to try and stop drivers making an illegal turning...more than three years after the scheme began.

A barrier has been put up to stop motorists turning right into Queen Street from Colchester High Street which would involve cutting through a bus lane or driving through a busy pedestrian crossing whilst the signal is green.

The scheme was introduced full-time in October 2013 and Peter Kay from bus users group C-Bus said he had been lobbying for a similar installation for 18 months.

He said: "I think I was the first person who raised the matter in the summer of 2015 and lots of other people have complained about it since, including the Colchester Civic Society.

"It was a simple matter to solve and it could have been dealt with two years or so ago.

"People getting off the bus on East Hill at Greyfriars are affected by people illegally turning and it can be very dangerous.

"I went down there after the installation and I hop it will stop people, I certainly did not see anyone try to go over it.

"There is still not a no right turn sign there which would help to make things clearer, but the green light is in the shape of an arrow pointing forward."

Some impatient motorists also use the Firstsite entrance on East Hill to perform u-turns to be able to enter Queen Street.

Mr Kay predicted even more people would do so now.

He said: "It will not solve the problem, in fact it may even make it worse.

"The problem is it was designed to look like a piece of road for drivers and a piece of pavement for pedestrians and of course nobody could have predicted its future use.

"Traffic reversal of Priory Street was supposed to solve the issue but of course it has been scrapped now.

"As a bus users group secretary it is not really for me to speculate on what the solution is."

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: “Turning right from the High Street into Queen Street is not only illegal, it endangers pedestrians crossing on a green signal at the nearby crossing.

"Last week we installed additional kerbing and bollards to prevent drivers from performing unsafe turning manoeuvres around the central island.”