HIGHWAY chiefs have come under fire for failing to promote a new junction built to cut traffic congestion in the New Forest.

Hampshire based motoring organisation the AA has blasted the county council for not telling drivers about a new right-turn facility on the A326 at Colbury.

The junction aims to provide motorists with an alternative route to the Forest and ease pressure on the traffic-choked A337 Cadnam-to-Lyndhurst road.

But the absence of signs on the M27 mean many drivers approaching the area are totally unaware of the improvements to the A326.

Motorists are still coming off the motorway at junction one near Cadnam and clogging the A337.

Lyndhurst High Street, which the Daily Echo recently revealed was one of the most polluted places in Hampshire, fills with exhaust fumes pumped out by the non-stop stream of vehicles passing through the village.

An AA spokesman said: "Whenever there's a new initiative it needs to be marketed properly with all the necessary information, signs and advertising.

"It's pointless spending all that money on a new junction if it's just sitting there not being used.

"Unless people are regular users of the A326, they're not going to know it's there.

"Highway people should be encouraging drivers to use the junction by putting up signs and generally issuing as much information as they possibly can."

The right-turn facility is primarily aimed at drivers approaching the Forest from the east.

Lyndhurst parish councillor John Charlesworth said: "People are still using the A337 because there aren't any signs to bring them off the motorway sooner.

"If you build a new junction and then don't tell the public, what's the point? It's just a waste of money."

Fed-up motorists include Dave Russell of Totton who said: "The A337 is getting busier all the time - and Lyndhurst High Street is a nightmare."

However, the county council is unlikely to take any action for another two months.

A spokesman confirmed that a traffic survey to assess the impact of the right-turn facility will not be carried out until October to prevent the figures being distorted by summer

traffic flows.

She added: "We need to compare like with like and the previous assessment was carried out in April."

Asked why no signs promoting the new junction had been installed on the M27, she said: "We need to assess it properly over a whole month to see what's needed."

Meanwhile, Lyndhurst Residents' Association is stepping up its fight for a relief road.

A spokesman said: "Three years ago about £1m was spent on reducing the High Street from two lanes to one. This was against the wishes of local people, more than 2,000 of whom signed a petition against the scheme.

"As expected, traffic queues around Lyndhurst are significantly worse and the High Street is now full of fumes and slow-moving traffic."