AN MP criticised council officials for not installing traffic lights at a notorious bottleneck before realising she had turned up five hours early.

Lewes MP Maria Caulfield took to social media to vent her fury about the lack of promised traffic lights at Exceat Bridge near Seaford only to be told she was too early to see them in action

Ms Caulfield has been campaigning with residents and drivers for traffic easing measures on the A259 on the hot spot between East Dean and Seaford.

So when she was told that East Sussex County Council was planning to instal temporary traffic lights for the air show in Eastbourne she was delighted.

Ms Caulfield thought that the lights were due to be there for all four days, as did many residents living nearby, so when she went to the site at 11am on Saturday she was in for a shock.

She said: "Considering that Airbourne started on Thursday, I am disappointed that come 11am today (Saturday) the temporary traffic lights are yet to be put in place.

"One of the main aims of this pilot was to assess the effect that temporary traffic lights would have on traffic during busy periods. I, for one, would have been interested to have seen what impact they would have had at peak times during the working week.

"Therefore I am naturally disappointed that they are yet to be put in place, and look forward to hearing East Sussex County Council’s reasoning behind this approach."

But the county council said it had agreed with Eastbourne Borough Council the lights would only be there on Saturday and Sunday, and only from 4-8pm.

A spokesman said: "I have checked with East Sussex Highways and the traffic lights were in place between 4pm and 8pm as planned.

"The lights were in place to cope with the expected congestion caused by the number of people leaving the Eastbourne event at the same time on Saturday and Sunday – the busiest days."

Last week we reported that the county council is looking at whether building an extra bridge at the area would be the solution to the traffic congestion.