SHOPPERS in Barrhead town centre are being driven to despair by “malfunctioning” lights at a pedestrian crossing.

The car park at The Foundry is one of the most popular places for motorists to park when they come into Barrhead.

But while they can easily access Asda from there, they have to cross the busy Main Street to reach the town’s other shops.

And it seems a problematic pedestrian crossing is persuading some people not to bother making the effort.

One resident said: “If you press the button, you’ll be waiting several minutes for the lights to change, which is too long.

“I think most people coming into Barrhead will park at the Asda car park and then cross the street to the shops but the lights are so slow you either have to go against the lights – which, with kids, you don’t want to do because it teaches them bad habits – or choose not to go to the small shops, which isn’t great.”

Councillor Danny Devlin, who represents Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor, has also raised concerns about Main Street’s traffic lights.

He said: “They are terrible, especially the ones next to the health centre. There’s a continuous fault in them, I believe.

“Sometimes the traffic is tailed back all the way to the Arthurlie Inns because of them.”

East Renfrewshire Council confirmed that lights at pedestrian crossings should not take several minutes to change after being pressed.

A spokesperson said: “The standard response time between a pedestrian pressing the button to cross, the lights turning red and the green man appearing is a maximum of 30 seconds.

“This timescale is determined by a device attached to the lights that monitors traffic flow and arranges for the lights to change when it is safe to do so.

“Even if the traffic flow is constant, the lights should turn red after 30 seconds have passed.

“We were not aware of any issues regarding the response time at the pedestrian crossing near The Foundry in Barrhead as we had not received any fault reports.

“We will be investigating the issue raised and, if a fault is discovered, this will be resolved promptly.”