You couldn't make it up, but a county road safety campaign has stalled due to the wrong sort of lampposts.

Stroud Council launched the road safety campaign after receiving a grant from the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner for four vehicle-activated signs.

Scores of residents nominated 13 streets for the initiative, including two petitions totalling 324 signatures for Stratford Road and Parliament Street. Stroud Town Council was so inundated with responses from residents as to where the signs should go, that they decided to commit extra funding to the project so that the signs can be moved around.

Over the last year, the town council and county councillor Eva Ward have worked with the Highways Authority to find the most suitable locations for the signs.

But now Highways has told the council that the signs cannot be installed anywhere in the town, because the lampposts aren't strong enough.

Cllr Eva Ward said: "The town council has been working hard to take advantage of local funding for vehicle-activated signs, so that we can get evidence of this kind of behaviour and put pressure on the Highways Authority to take steps to address these problems.

"Sadly after a year's work to get these signs set up, we have been told that the lampposts in Stroud aren't strong enough to support even the lightest models. To say we are frustrated and disappointed is an understatement."

Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl (pictured), who has made safer driving a priority, was astonished to hear why the funding had not been taken up.

He said: "It's obvious from the reaction the town council received that people in Stroud are desperate to do something to slow down traffic and make their roads safer, so it's very frustrating to hear the reason for the delay. It might be funny if it didn't relate to such a serious issue.

"I don't blame the county council as they have to make sure what goes up won't come down, but this does seem to have dragged on far too long. I hope the two councils can hurry up and find a solution that works and that red tape doesn't get in the way of local people doing their bit to make their communities safer."