I believe these crossings are dangerous and very confusing as the "little man" signs are at low level next to the buttons and on the same side as the persons wishing to cross. Therefore not only are they obscured by the person stood next to the button but also others have to concentrate on the low level sign and direct their attention away from the highway.

Most people have no idea where the signal is or if it is the right one, and therefore they ignore it and take a chance with the traffic. The council appears to have realised how dangerous some of these are and has tried to remedy this fiasco with bits of plywood fixed to the lights (see photo).

The pedestrian crossings at the Peterborough Custom House and at London Road with its disco-like installation of 16 traffic light standards have become worse by being divided. The previous system involved pressing the button and crossing the road in one action. Now you press the button, cross part of the road and then have to press other buttons and wait to complete the transit. The audible signals have also gone, making the crossings much more difficult for the partially sighted.

The council has confirmed that the fees paid to the private consultants employed to design these will be in the region of £900,000-£950,000 of public money, but it has been reported that Birmingham City Council installed this type of crossing some time ago and found them so dangerous that they are now replacing them with the old style pelicans, and also this type of crossing has been blamed for accidents in Norwich. I would be very interested in the views of your readers about these installations.
Peter Slinger

Weak response in shop
It does not take much to clarify the reasons why youngsters go binge drinking, they have no concept of what ale is about. I happened to be in a queue at a local shop when a lad behind me was greedily clutching his latest purchase of lager.

As I turned round he looked at me and uttered his words with great gusto, "This is really the good stuff."

Letting him believe momentarily that he had managed to bag a bargain, I replied in a rather quizzical manner, "They're only around the 3.6 mark aren't they?" referring to the strength.

Initially, there was a vacant expression followed by a perplexed frown, and then the answer, "No, they're only eight quid off the shelf," consolidating the fact that youngsters have no conceivable idea of what they are consuming.
Mr J Gunning
Deerleap
South Bretton
Peterborough

What's taking so long
Why do they always do Fletton parkway and Nene parkway road works at the same time? It's a joke.

I have resorted driving from Deeping St James at 6.30am or normal times going across to Tallington, Barnack, A1 to work in Orton Southgate, and even then I'm getting held up behind people doing the same thing from Stamford to avoid the Carpenters Lodge road works on the A1.