BOSSES at Dudley Council are hoping temporary measures will help to stop law-flouting motorists from making dangerous right-hand turns into one of the busiest roads in the borough.

Dudley’s highways department has installed a temporary barrier where Mill Race Lane meets Amblecote High Street, opposite The Bonded Warehouse.

It has long been illegal to make right-hand turns from the slip-road onto the High Street but many motorists have ignored the one-way signage and could often be seen blocking the middle of the road trying to find a break in the traffic to head in their direction of choice.

The new temporary measure, installed at the weekend, makes it harder still, and a riskier manoeuvre, to try to turn right – but it hasn’t deterred everyone.

But council bosses say it’s a start to try and tackle the problem.

Councillor Damian Corfield, Dudley Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “The dangerous practice of vehicles illegally turning right at the junction of Mill Race Lane in Stourbridge has been an issue for local resident's and road users for well over 20 years.

“One of the main promises I made to residents of the borough 14 months ago when I was appointed as cabinet member for highways was to make the roads of Dudley as safe as possible for all users.

“This is a temporary measure I’ve instructed officers to put in place as part of a bigger traffic consultation for Stourbridge to see if road safety, congestion and air quality will improve by diverting traffic around the rind road before looking at a permanent solution.”

Amblecote councillor Paul Bradley, deputy leader of Dudley Council and cabinet member for communities and economic delivery, said hopes the trial measures help to put a stop to “dangerous right turns that have been taking place out of Mill Race Lane and into incoming traffic off the ring road”.

A local resident, who asked not to be named, said they had campaigned for the last few years for something to be done and they said of the temporary measure: “It's not an ideal nor pretty solution but hopefully it has gone a long way to solving the problem by making it difficult to turn right.

“I can understand why people do it but it is illegal and a highways safety concern and a practice which annoyingly to other road users disrupts traffic flow.”