Abingdon's contentious new traffic system has come under fire again - this time from town councillors unhappy with a new traffic light system, which critics argue is causing peak-hour congestion.

The town council has called on Oxfordshire County Council to sort out the problems with the integrated system - which is designed to regulate traffic flow. The Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique (Scoot) system came into operation last year. But one long-standing critic of the traffic system says the people of Abingdon have been "conned".

Brian Eastoe, from Drayton, said: "Scoot doesn't work and I predicted it wouldn't when I attended the public exhibition in the town.

"I said that the graphics and computer simulation were the figment of someone's vivid imagination. We have been conned."

Town council leader Julie Mayhew-Archer added: "There is enormous frustration at the unpredictability of traffic queue lengths, and concern that footfall to the shops has reduced since Scoot came into operation. We want the county council to review and improve the situation."

Ian Hudspeth, the county council's cabinet member for transport implementation, denied people had been hoodwinked, adding: "All along we have had open meetings and the information has been in the public domain."

Mr Hudspeth admitted the Scoot system had suffered teething problems.

There are long delays to traffic at key times leading on to Abingdon Bridge from Culham, with traffic held back at lights before the bridge when the system detects jams in the town centre. In a bid to ease queues, the lights are to be moved to Bridge Street, and the red phase shortened.

Other key stages in the town centre scheme - installing a 'straight on' filter at the Ock Street-Stratton Way junction, and narrowing Stert Street into a single lane are expected to be operational later this month. Work to reduce the High Street to a single lane has been put off for a year so the likely impact can be studied in more detail.