A village in the Tyne Valley has seen a new roundabout built in recent weeks, although the project has been questioned by one of its residents.

The new road layout, which is located at what used to be a T-junction near the village’s Co-op store, has been designed to improve traffic flow as well as making it easier for larger vehicles to get through the village also.

However the work has been questioned by local resident Sam Quigley, who believes the project has its flaws.

“It’s the fact there’s no consultation or relevant consultation on the removal of parking and in position of block pavings on the area in front of the houses on Ratcliffe Road from No.1 on,” said Sam.

“They have removed effectively parking for up to eight cars I would suggest.

“Without any thought for the people living there nor indeed thought for Co-op employees nor co-op shoppers.

“If you’re going to have a consultation about something on the basis that so called consultation then carry out a series of works then surely you have to consider what the impact of those works is going to be?”

“I have e-mailed and one of the other ladies on the street has e-mailed as well the council and we were referred to a planning document which again bears no relevance to the village because the villagers weren’t contacted about it.

Sam also went on to explain why he thinks the project is not what it has been designed to do.

“To try and get an emergency vehicle along there at peak times is going to be difficult to say the least,” he added.

“So increasing the flow and improving safety, what its done is restricted flow, which will lead to people’s tempers getting frayed because they’re not able to get through and the potential for an accident.”

When asked about the new scheme, Northumberland County Council said they’d been working with residents of the village throughout the project.

“The council has been working with the community in Haydon Bridge for the past two years to improve traffic issues in the village,” said a Northumberland County Council spokesperson.

“The new mini roundabout, which is just one part of the wider scheme, improves the traffic flow, prevents the indiscriminate parking that was happening there and makes it easier for larger vehicles to negotiate the junction.”

The roundabout is located on Ratcliffe Road and is at the point where the road is met by Church Street.