A NUMBER of traders and residents in Dawlish Warren will be relieved that two potentially dangerously placed bus stops in Warren Road near the Warren Cafe will be moved within the next week, say Devon County Council.

The roadworks which have gone on throughout June in Warren Road have caused problems to both residents and traders.

They are not opposed to the roadworks as they are putting in traffic calming systems, but they are very annoyed that two bus stops have been put in extremely close to a crossing point near the Warren Cafe.

Cafe owner Caroline Gooch said the pedestrian crossing was a joke.

'I have already seen two cars hit each other.

'Cars try and overtake a bus as it stops to pick up passengers, then a car does the same coming the other way, and you have an accident on your hands,' she said.

Bus driver Steven Coombes who has 25 years experience on British roads said, at present the bus stop and pedestrian crossing is a potential death trap.

Another trader, Jenny McGibbon, owner of Geralds supermarket agrees with Mr Coombes and Mrs Gooch.

She believes that the timing of the roadworks is bad, and that the crossing point and bus stops are dangerous.

'When a bus comes along and stops to pick up passengers traffic has to queue behind it, and drivers become very frustrated and try to overtake the bus.

'This is highly dangerous as there are bus stops on both sides and there is a pedestrian crossing right near the bus stop.

'I have already seen a couple of close shave accidents,' stressed Mrs McGibbon.

'The timing of the roadworks is really bad. Why do it in summer, when it is busy? We have been here five years now, and every summer something comes along to deter people from coming here,' she said.

A spokesman from the county council commented on why the roadworks were being done in the summer: 'The traffic calming work that we're doing is at the request of the local community and the scheme has been approved by the Dawlish Town Council, the Teignbridge Local Government Partnership Committee and the police.

'The aim is to introduce traffic calming measures which will permit the introduction of a 20mph zone.

'It was agreed with the community that the work would be carried out as early as possible in the financial year avoiding peak holiday season-generally defined as when schools break up in late July to early September.'

Warren Road residents, Peter and Marjorie Whyman said they were unhappy that the bus stops are so near to a pedestrian crossing and that the roadworks coincided with a bank holiday.

The couple were also highly concerned about the dust flying round, caused by the road works as Mr Whyman is asthmatic.

'I believe the dust brought on an asthma attack. I haven't had an attack for a long time. I went to the hospital and they put me onto a nebuliser and I had to take steroids to clear my airways. I am sure they could have calmed the dust down by spraying a thin layer of water over the dust. My car was also covered in it,' said Mr Whyman.

Mrs Whyman said: 'Peter has to be really ill before he goes to the doctor, he won't go until he gets really bad. So he must have been poorly to go to hospital, and I think the dust from the roadworks brought on the attack.'

The roadworks are expected to be finished in a fortnight.