A WYCOMBE motorist has warned that the Eden development has become a magnet for traffic lights after he counted more than 50 sets in close succession.

Stephen Jones, 56, from Swains Lane, Flackwell Heath, counted the lights when walking past construction work for the new leisure and retail complex and questioned the need for so much traffic management.

He said: "There is a huge amount of lights along that stretch and they just look horrendous.

"It seems like a terrible waste of money. I want to know who is paying for all these lights and if they are really necessary."

Lights have been installed around the new bus station in Bridge Street, and lights are also being placed around the Abbey Way roundabout at the entrance to Eden.

Mr Jones counted 32 lights by the roundabout and around Eden, plus another 25 in Bellfield Road.

He said: "They are enlarging the roundabout and there are traffic lights with plastic covers over the top of them.

"It is barmy to have so many. When they are all working it is going to be chaos.

"The roundabout used to work without lights, so why do we need them now?

"The roundabout at the bottom of Marlow Hill doesn't have any lights and the traffic flows."

Tony Fooks, vice chairman of the High Wycombe Society, said the increasing number of traffic lights was an issue many people have raised with him.

He said: "It would appear that where ever there appears a potential problem some one says lets put traffic lights in.

"Many of our members have commented that when lights are out for whatever reason traffic flows better and more freely. The most frequently asked question is where is the evidence or case that supports the growth of traffic lights to the extent that we have today?"

Si Khan, local area coordinator for transport at Buckinghamshire County Council, said the lights had been put in place to deal with the extra 200,000 cars predicted in the town each week by builders Multiplex when Eden opens in 2008.

She said: "We appreciate that the lights are not all needed until then, and we are in negotiations with Multiplex who are aware of the problem.

"They are doing some major works to resolve the problem."

She added that Multiplex made a major contribution to the cost of the lights.