February 22, 2001 9:54: A RETIRED civil servant claims that more than half a million pounds a year is wasted with motorists stuck in traffic jams at a busy road junction.

Pensioner Mike Adams, 70, of Amersham Road, Beaconsfield, has been counting the traffic flow from his kitchen window during morning and evening rush hours.

He says 1,750 drivers travelling south on the A355 to Beaconsfield Old Town face a five-minute delay every weekday morning and those from the Old Town towards the M40 are delayed for one-and-a-half minutes at the same junction.

He said: "Assume that the drivers time should be costed at £10 per hour and the fuel at 80p per litre. This works out to be an annual cost for motorists of £600,000."

Mr Adams is calling for a by-pass to be built to relieve the problem and plans for a by-pass were considered by Buckinghamshire County Council more than 30 years ago.

He also wants a traffic survey to be carried out in Beaconsfield, and has asked the county council to fund the £140,000 project in the near future.

He added: "If the bypass had been constructed 25 years ago at a cost, say, of £10 million, users of the road would have been some £5 million better off."

Mr Adams has lived in the town for more than 30 years, and believes the traffic problems on the A355 are getting worse.

He added: "I live just 30 feet away from the road and the noise of this traffic is the thing that really gets me down.

"It goes on until 1.30am. We really do need a by-pass to be built on this road."

The county council last year agreed to seriously consider carrying out a traffic survey in the town but asked for £40,000 additional funding from South Bucks District Council.

A spokesman from the district council said that members had agreed to hold a meeting with the county council to discuss the situation.

A county council spokesman said: "We are actively looking into having a traffic survey for Beaconsfield.

"We will be discussing this at the next local area committee meeting on May 4."

Matthew Harris