WHEN standing at a pedestrian crossing, it can sometimes feel like it takes forever for the green man to appear.

And when he does, you feel obliged to rush across the road, before he disappears again.

But all that is changing.

For Swindon council is installing hi-tech sensors at crossings with the aim of making them more pedestrian friendly and safer.

They work by sensing the presence of a pedestrian crossing the road, keeping the traffic lights at red until whoever is crossing the road has reached the other side.

At a cost of £16,000, 12 of the new hi-tech puffin crossings are currently operational in Swindon.

Last week, Ioan Rees, the borough's head of transport, and Simon Birch, director of environmental services, met Coun Fionuala Foley (Lab, Old Town and Lawns) and council leader Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawns) at one of the town's newest junctions to discuss the system.

Residents using the crossing at Newport Street say the traffic lights take too long to turn red, tempting people to cross the road between traffic and making it hazardous for elderly people and children from two nearby schools.

Mr Rees said: "The problem we face here is balancing the need of pedestrians against the traffic congestion.

"The crossings at Newport Street and Croft Road are new puffin crossings which have sensors under the kerb. When someone crosses the road, the lights will stay red for as long as it takes them to cross. There is also no longer a flashing amber light only red or green. So if an elderly person is crossing, the lights will stay red to traffic for as long as it takes to get to the other kerb.

"With regards to the time the lights take to allow you to cross, it's all about getting a balance really.

"The traffic is monitored throughout the day and when it is heavy for example, the red lights might take longer to come on to enable more traffic through.

"The sequence can also depend on the type of vehicles in the traffic if a bus is coming along the road, the lights might stay on green for longer to allow it through.

"Our job is to get a balance between traffic and pedestrians the more time you give to pedestrians, the less traffic is going to get through and this is already a heavily congested area."

The traffic system in Newport Street and Croft Road changed earlier this year when a new £125,000 scheme saw traffic lights replace the previous roundabout to accommodate the new Wroughton Park and Ride bus scheme.

Stuart Macpherson, 74, of Springfield Road, first complained about the safety of the nearby crossings in May.

He said: "The time lapse between activating the pedestrian crossing is the longest I have experienced on any crossing. The temptation to jump the lights is enormous and many adults do just that. How many children still learning to cope with road traffic are similarly risking their lives?"

Rosemary Earle, owner of the Earles newsagents, opposite the Newport Street crossing agrees.

She said: "There are two problems here, the traffic congestion and the safety of the crossing. This place is choked with traffic for most of the day because of this new traffic system and when people try and cross the road at the crossing they have to wait ages for the lights to turn.

"A lot of them run across rather than wait but there are two schools nearby, one of them Lethbridge primary school, and lots of children use this crossing. I think many parents bring their children to school because they're scared of what could happen on the way."