CROSSINGS on the remodelled Darlington inner ring road are "an accident waiting to happen", according to a frustrated pedestrian.

Since the £3.7m roadworks project on the A167 St Cuthberts Way, pedestrians waiting to use the new crossings are having to wait noticeably longer to cross the road, with the traffic lights weighted in favour of drivers.

Dorothy Brenkley, from Barnard Castle, uses the crossing every week on her way to work in Darlington town centre.

She has reported seeing a number of pedestrians crossing without waiting for the lights to change, when they think there is no traffic coming.

But she worries that could encourage pedestrians who are less light on their feet to follow suit, potentially leading to a fatal accident.

Darlington Borough Council insists the settings at pedestrian crossings are fair and set within guidelines.

Mrs Brenkley said: "I just want to know what the council is doing about this, pedestrians are frequently having to wait a minute or longer for the lights to change.

"We definitely spend longer waiting there now than we ever have done before.

"It is an accident waiting to happen, because there are so many people jay-walking when they think there is nothing coming.

"But all it would take is for a HGV to come tearing down Haughton Road onto the ring road, or for someone to accelerate away from the roundabout, for there to be a serious accident.

"There are three lanes of traffic to cross, so it's not like most pedestrians can just nip across easily."

Mrs Brenkley said it took 55 seconds for the lights to change when she used the crossing on Monday (January 5).

By comparison, the pedestrian crossing by the William Stead pub, in Crown Street, took just 20 seconds to change.

She added: "I am a driver too, so I understand the frustration of having to stop at a red light when there is nobody crossing the road.

"But the way these lights are set up at the moment does seem to unfairly favour drivers ahead of poor, shivering pedestrians

A council spokeswoman said: “We are grateful for the observations.

"The settings at the pedestrian crossings are set within guidelines to ensure they are at a safe and fair level for both motorists and pedestrian crossing users.

"We will continue to review and adjust the settings as required.”