Sir – And so once again we see the usual construction mania gripping Oxfordshire, this time in the form of plans to build a beanburger (or hamburger, or whatever these things are called) roundabout at Heyford Hill.

When will the planners understand that throwing many millions of pounds at a problem that can be solved far more simply, is a complete waste of our money and causes huge disruption and inconvenience?

Just as at Green Road in Headington, there is no need for hamburgers, however much they delight the planners and generate make-work employment: all that Heyford Hill needs is traffic lights, properly sited and sequenced, which would achieve exactly the same result at one-fiftieth the cost.

In particular, comprehensive traffic lights are vital for cars exiting from Sainsbury’s. At the moment, this exit is a complete shambles at the best of times and a death trap at peak times, with cars whizzing by continuously (and almost invisibly, until the very last moment) both from the southern bypass direction and to some extent from the eastern bypass too, with the result that it takes courage and split-second timing to enter the roundabout from Sainsbury’s.

Similarly, widening the southern bypass is pointless as it will merely move the precise location of any traffic jams a mile or so further back. All that is needed is a filter lane for cars turning left at Heyford Hill, similar to the one at Peartree going towards Woodstock on the A44: this would overcome the delays that those cars face by having to stop at the roundabout, and also relieve the pressure even further off drivers trying to exit from Sainsbury’s.

Isaac Szobel Steeple Aston