Could Milton Keynes roads grind to a halt as council runs out of green traffic light bulbs?

And today council bosses admitted the bulbs it needs for many of the traffic lights in MK are not being manufactured any more.

The motorist first reported to the council on October 29 that the green bulb had failed on the lights at Northfield Roundabout, near Junction 14 of the M1.

“I received an automated reply after about two hours, to say that it had been fixed. I was pleased, but then disappointed to see that this wasn’t the case,” he said.

The concerned motorist has since reported it seven more times over the past four weeks.

“My last conversation with the Council was that their contractor had run out of green bulbs,” he said.

“Can MK Citizen help get this repaired? Will we have a ceremonial turning-on of the light for Christmas?”

The driver, who is concerned that the lack of green lights could cause traffic chaos and accidents, added: “I have just spoken to them again this afternoon. They are now telling me that their contractor is now saying that it is more major and the entire unit will have to be replaced, but with no specific timeline.

“ I specifically asked to speak to a senior manager or director responsible for Highways. They declined to put me through. They also declined to give me the email address of the relevant Strategic Asset Manager, but did give me the director’s email address. “

The Citizen has forwarded the details on to MK Council's press office. A spokesman said this afternoon: "They are not light bulbs like domestic ones but are specialist lights and the ones at this roundabout are a product that hasn’t been manufactured for about 20 years in the UK. So we have no way of getting an exact replacement for it."

She added: "There are a couple of options that we can look at which would mean replacing the traffic light."