March 2, 2001 9:43: MOTORISTS have been warned to stay away from Handy Cross after a week of chaos at the notorious roundabout.

Thousands of drivers were late for work and tempers boiled over after the traffic lights at the junction went out of sync, causing gridlock and massive tailbacks during the rush hour on Wednesday and yesterday.

The Highways Agency said the problem was a fault in the lights' ancient signal controller, the brains of the traffic light system.

New traffic lights are now being installed at the junction which will have a remote control box so engineers don't need to be present at Handy Cross if things go wrong.

But an Agency spokesman said until the lights were in place in a couple of weeks, road users should avoid the area at peak times.

There were tailbacks for miles along the M40 on Wednesday and Thursday as traffic heading to Junction 4 edged forward one car's length every five minutes.

Cars and lorries were queuing from as far back as Beaconsfield in the east and Stokenchurch.

Truck driver Brian Mills, 51, from Ripley Close, Downley, said yesterday: "It has taken me an hour and a quarter to get to Flackwell Heath from Wycombe. Every sub road in the area is queuing.

"The police or council should keep us informed so we can plan our times better. Someone in the council should get their act together. What are we getting for our council tax? Absolute chaos."

Businesswoman Christine Jeffrey of Sennheiser UK in Halifax Road, High Wycombe, criticised the police for not being in the right place at the right time to direct traffic.

"Police only turn up when gridlock occurs. How long do we have to put up with this chaos and how do the people who are in charge of the roadworks plan to rectify the situation?" she asked in an e-mail to the Free Press.

PC lan Baverstock, traffic manager for Thames Valley Police, said the force was fed up with having to deal with motorists venting their anger at officers.

He has asked the Highway Authority to put up signs apologising and give a number for people to call to complain.

He added: "This has cost at least 20 hours of police time. It takes eight police officers to direct traffic up there.

"We were told about it on Wednesday and by Thursday morning it has still not been resolved."

David Allworth, of the Wycombe area office of Buckinghamshire County Council whose office took hundreds of complaints from drivers when they finally did get to work, said: "The problem with Junction 4 is that, provided it works, it's fine, but the slightest hitch and the whole town of High Wycombe and West London comes to a halt."

At present there is a control box situated in the centre of the roundabout and when it goes wrong the lights revert to a standard pattern of working that does not take account of the traffic flow. Engineers also have to be called to the site to repair it.

Work being carried out for the Highways Agency by Parsons Brinkerhoff and their sub contractors includes the replacement of the traffic lights and control system, installing a CCTV system at the junction so that traffic conditions can be monitored, and lane widening.

In the meantime, the Highways Agency has promised that engineers will be at Handy Cross before the morning peak periods to sort out problems.

The agency is also talking to the police about arrangements for traffic control at peak periods in the event of more traffic light failures.

Roads minister Keith Hill will be at Handy Cross on Thursday to announce long-term plans for the improvement of the junction.

By.Syreeta Lund and Margaret Smith