AN Oxfordshire woman has expressed her frustration at how a council dealt with an enquiry she had about a set of temporary traffic lights.

Sally McKenna, from Adderbury, contacted Cherwell District Council customer services on Wednesday to ask why a set of temporary traffic lights on the A4260 between Deddington and North Aston had been ‘abandoned’.

ALSO READ: Thames Water fines Oxfordshire street cleaning companies for water theft

She believed the lights had been in operation for more than a week ‘causing major disruption’, but that there was no sign of any roadworks taking place.

She asked for information from the council, but was disappointed by the response.

Ms McKenna, who just moved to the area after living in Africa for 20 years, said: “They repeatedly told me about a skip in Deddington, but said they didn’t know about these particular lights and that they weren’t expected to know ‘everything’.”

The woman then decided to send a letter to the council, outlining her frustration.

She said in the letter: “There has been no sign of the elusive workmen. Perhaps they are busy elsewhere fixing potholes. They (customer services) specifically told me that they have no record of the said lights on your amazing system.

ALSO READ: Walton Street Barrier to be removed and no Low Traffic Neighbourhood installed

"I wouldn’t expect you to know everything. However, I would expect the customer service team of the Highways Department to know where they put temporary traffic lights, and why indeed they put them there in the first place.

Ms McKenna was then told that Oxfordshire County Council, as the highways authority, was responsible.

She said: “I now have had a response, one informing me that it’s nothing to do with them, it’s to do with Oxfordshire County Council. I think their ineptitude should be highlighted.

“It seems that they don’t have a clue about what’s going on. It’s even more astonishing that during the week that the lights were there, we couldn’t see one workman.”

The traffic lights were removed on Wednesday and the work was carried out by Southern Gas Networks.

Cherwell District Council said it does not comment on individual cases and that if Ms McKenna was really unhappy with the service that she received then there is an official complaints process that she can follow.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445