Concerns over a notorious Burton roundabout have been sparked by Burton Mail readers who believe improvements need to be made to ensure safety for motorists and pedestrians.

The island linking Orchard Street and St Peter’s Bridge has become a focus for attention over the years because an increase in the number of vehicles on the road and a nearby pedestrian crossing has led to gridlock during rush-hour and a series of near-misses.

Now, Burton Mail readers have had their say after a 64-year-old crashed his vehicle into another car while attempting to navigate the island.

Jaswant Atwal appeared at North Staffordshire Justice Centre where he admitted driving without due care and attention.

He was driving along Orchard Street intending to enter the roundabout. At the same time a Ford Ka had entered the roundabout from Branston Road intending to turn right onto St Peter's Bridge.

The defendant failed to give way to the Ford Ka, which was negotiating the roundabout, and caused the crash, the court was told.

A reader called himself Victor Meldrew has taken to the Burton Mail’s website pleading for action.

He said: “If traffic in London was as slow as Burton traffic around St Peter’s Bridge they would have built two more bridges over the Trent by now. It is time action was taken and a faster bypass for the A444 is needed.”

Frank Perks was another Burton Mail reader who expressed their distaste of the island, saying: “I hate this roundabout. It causes more trouble than it's worth. Everyone seems to get road rage when using it. I'm sure traffic lights would work better, or, better still, a decent one-way system.”

Another reader came up with another solution. Saz Dyche said: “Get rid of the roundabout and put lights in for this junction as people are idiots when using it.”

Clara Statham also agreed that much of it was the fault of the driver, saying: “People don't use the indicators so don't know where they going. Plus with the design of cars now you can hardly see the indicators unless it's dark when they use them.”

Another solution came from Glenys Gibbs who said: “Can’t the council compulsoryily purchase around this roundabout in order to make it larger and fit for purpose or a bigger junction for traffic lights?

“One of the major routes into and out of Burton and it's been a pain for years. It's a bottleneck and so many lanes converging onto such a small roundabout is always going to cause problems. Nothing is ever done though. It's just ignored as if it will eventually go away or sort itself out spontaneously.”

Sue Parkinson suggested a pedestrian bridge may help and Samantha Budd says Burton’s traffic system needs to catch up: “This roundabout is a nightmare. In fact, Burton is a nightmare for getting around. Derby is better and it is like five times the size. The irony.”

Troubled roundabout

The roundabout linking Orchard Street, Branston Road and Lichfield Street has long been a bone of contention with motorists.

It is situated on one of the main routes in and out of Burton and is the main link from the town centre to the very busy St Peter's Bridge.

Roundabouts can cause havoc and delays at the best of times, but this island is littered with pedestrian crossings, which due to the high level of homes in the nearby area, are necessary, but leads to a bottleneck of traffic squeezing through during rush hour.

Traffic stops on the island, causing problems in all directions.