A FED-UP councillor has gathered hundreds of signatures to a petition calling for urgent improvements to a notorious congestion hot spot.

Anne Turrell, county councillor for Mile End, is urging council bosses to take action to resolve congestion issues at the North Station area, in Colchester.

The long-serving councillor and Mile End resident has put forward three potential solutions to ease the problem, supported by 811 residents who have put their names to a petition.

The first would see £4 million of funding, due to be received from housing developers as part of planning agreements, invested in road improvements.

Other ideas include reviewing and redesigning the 18 sets of traffic lights currently in place in the North Station area.

Mrs Turrell said drivers were often left waiting for well over an hour to exit the nearby Asda supermarket on weekends.

"I do know Essex County Council are looking at the congestion issue and are working out a long-term plan, that is all well and good," she said.

"But something needs to be done now.

"I am hoping the council will agree to forward-fund the money, much like it did for the Northern Approach bus lane.

"This would mean paying for the improvements now and recouping the money due from developers in the future.

"There needs to be a re-think, the traffic lights cause more problems than they solve and often just don't work in synchronisation.

"I think new signage encouraging drivers to try different routes could help to ease the problem - people might not know they could save time by not travelling via the station area."

Kevin Bentley, county councillor responsible for infrastructure, said: "There is a growth in housing numbers and it is important to make sure the infrastructure keeps pace with this growth.

"We are looking at ways to ease congestion across the whole of the borough, not just at North Station - other areas like Stanway and Warren Lane junction need looking at.

"I have looked at the petition and the ideas laid out and feel we are rowing in the same direction.

"I will sit down with experts and highways engineers, once I have put together some ideas I will be sharing this with the elective."