TOURISTS heading for the New Forest will be kept in the dark about a major new junction that aims to improve the area's biggest bottleneck.

Hampshire County Council is due to spend more than £1m on a right-turn facility on the A326 at Colbury later this year.

The vital project is designed to reduce the number of vehicles that leave the M27 at junction one near Cadnam and take the A337 to Lyndhurst.

Campaigners hope it will encourage more motorists to exit the motorway at junction two near Ower and use the A326 to enter the Forest.

But highway chiefs have been accused of undermining their own attempt to cut traffic congestion, after rejecting calls to promote the scheme by installing signs on the M27.

Their decision has sparked fears that the vast majority of Forest-bound cars coming off the motorway will continue to clog the A337.

The county council came under fire at a meeting of Totton and Eling Town Council's planning and transport committee.

Members spoke out after Lyndhurst parish councillors cited the problems confronting the traffic-choked village and outlined their latest attempt to secure a bypass.

Parish councillor John Charlesworth said tailbacks on the A337 often stretched all the way from Lyndhurst to Cadnam.

He added: "If the Colbury scheme isn't signed on the motorway, drivers won't know to come off at junction two and take the A326."

Totton councillor George Dart said: "Traffic growth is out of control and needs to be addressed. We're starting to see some serious accidents on local roads, especially the A337."

The new right-turn at Colbury is due to be installed in the next few months.

A county council spokesman said the authority would monitor the amount of traffic using the junction and then decide if signs should be placed on the M27.

She added: "It's a high-profile project and the level of awareness is already quite high."

Officials are understood to have adopted their "wait and see" approach amid fears that signs could result in too much traffic flowing through Ashurst.

However, the high cost of signage is also thought to have been a factor in their decision.