A 'DANGEROUS' bus stop is causing concern after it was relocated as part of long-running roundabout improvements.

People living in the Covingham and Nythe area of Swindon have slammed Swindon Borough Council over the move, which is part of the work on the Piccadilly junction which is finally set to finish next month.

Passengers using the number 2 and 23 bus routes towards Swindon and Stratton now have to use a new bus stop on Dorcan Way.

Before the improvements on the Piccadilly roundabout started, the bus stops were positioned on the roundabout itself at the turning for the Greenbridge Retail Park.

A resident who did not want to be named said: “With all the money being spent on roundabouts and the alterations going on, to move this bus stop to where it currently is, is very, very silly and more dangerous than it ever was, where it used to be.

“It blocks the cycle path, the footpath around the bus stop is so narrow that if you were using a wheelchair there would be very little room to get around and you can easily fall into oncoming traffic.

“The reason that it was moved was that it was dangerous for the cars leaving the roundabout.”

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The anonymous resident who has lived in Swindon for more than 30 years added that the move didn’t make any sense due to the increase in traffic in the area and the frequency of the buses.

“To me, they looked at the traffic situation, not the human situation," they said.

“It does seem very strange, that they’ve put it in a more dangerous situation. It’s almost like an afterthought, that’s the impression you get.”

When asked to comment, a spokesperson for Swindon Borough Council said: “The improvements to the Piccadilly junction will see an extra lane created around the roundabout to increase capacity and improve traffic flow.

“By placing the bus stops back in their original positions on the roundabout it would block off one of those lanes and an independent road safety audit said this would likely cause accidents as motorists may try to pull out into the other lane to make their way round the stationary bus.

“The new locations for the bus stops were selected by our designers to comply with all the road safety standards.”

Work to upgrade the Piccadilly roundabout started in January 2021 and was originally scheduled for completion last summer.