The independent report into Abingdon's traffic scheme commissioned by traders offers no easy solutions to the traffic problems.

It raises some serious questions about Oxfordshire County Council's choice of the Scoot traffic light system, which it says is unsuitable for a town like Abingdon.

The consultants say Scoot should be replaced by an alternative system more suited to the traffic congestion encountered in the town. In fact, they suggest it should never have been chosen in the first place.

The county council needs to clarify why it was chosen in the first place. It also needs to say why it chose the developers of the Scoot system for its own review of the Abingdon traffic situation.

That said, even this latest report suggests that changing the software running the traffic lights will not offer a long-term solution to congestion.

The answer, say the consultants, is to revert back to one-way traffic on Stratton Way.

It sums up neatly the central problem for Abingdon. There is too much traffic trying to get across town.

Until we solve that problem with an extra river crossing and a full junction at Lodge Hill, we, and our vehicles, will be going round in circles for some time to come.