I am happy to reassure Michael Benson (Argus Letters, August 14) that I am still keeping an extremely close eye on how the A259 bus lane scheme is operating, particularly in relation to road safety.

In addition to my regular monitoring of the road, I have arranged another site visit with officers and councillors for September to discuss how the changes which we made to the original scheme are working.

In particular, the reinstating of the bus lay-by at the eastbound stop in Rottingdean and starting the new westbound right hand turning lane at the Rottingdean signals earlier and improving the warning signs.

I repeat what I have said before – the A259 “sustainable transport corridor” scheme was agreed by the previous Labour administration of Brighton and Hove City Council and as an opposition councillor at the time, I never supported the plans.

We shall do everything we can to try and make it work, not least because an awful lot of public money has been spent on it already.

However, I reiterate – if the measures which we introduced to try and improve safety and traffic flow are not having the desired effect, I am quite prepared to look at the whole scheme again.

Councillor Mary Mears

Leader – Brighton and Hove City Council and Conservative member for Rottingdean coastal ward