Plans to install bollards in Stow town centre have been met with mixed reactions from local traders.

Shopkeepers have been vociferous over the issue of traffic in the town, and especially in relation to the proposed introduction of bollards in an effort to reduce speed, and eventually traffic flow through the town centre.

Roger Lamb, an antiques dealer on the square in Stow, said: "I think the present system works perfectly well.

"As a trader in the centre of the square for the last 12 years or more I don't see that there is a problem with speeding vehicles. The majority of the cars are looking for parking spaces, of which there are too few, and by far the biggest problem is confusion caused by people driving in two directions around the southern part of the square, the section from the memorial to the town hall."

However, some people are concerned that motorists are using the town centre as a short-cut to avoid the system of lights on the road around the town.

Jack Baggot is on the Parking and Traffic Sub-Committee of Stow Town Council. He believes that a rat-run is developing whereby drivers will nip through the town centre to avoid the lights, or to get to Tescos.

He said: "Stow has a real problem with the traffic, and it's getting worse everyday.

"Tesco has been built on the opposite side of the town to the most heavily populated areas and people come through the town to avoid the lights at the Unicorn and Fountain junctions.

"With regards to the bollards, I think anything that makes the town more user friendly for people on foot is a good idea."

The Mayor of Stow, Tom Morris, was keen to stress that nothing had been decided yet and that the Highways Agency was coming to inspect the situation.