More than one in three pedestrian crossings in Somerset could suddenly stop working unless urgent repairs are carried out.

There are nearly 300 pelican, toucan or other signal-controlled crossings in operation across the county, providing safe crossing points to schools, shops and other vital amenities.

But more than one-third (39 per cent) of these are in danger of failing in the near-future due to equipment reaching the end of its service life, potentially putting the public at risk.

Somerset County Council has pledged to spend nearly £9M by 2023 to fix the problem – and will make repairs to several key crossings in Taunton in the coming months.

As of June 30 (the most recent figures available), there are 287 traffic signal-controlled crossings in Somerset – such as toucan and pelican crossings (but not beacon-controlled zebra crossings).

Of these, 112 sites (39 per cent) are in a "critical" condition – meaning they use "obsolete equipment which is unmaintainable in the event of failure".

If nothing is done, this will rise to 62 per cent by March 2024 – assuming that no new crossings are commissioned and installed in that time.

Andrew Tranter, the council's consultant engineer for traffic control, published a report detailing the problem on the council's website.

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He said: "It has been identified that over 30 per cent of our current traffic signal assets have exceeded their design life and are at significant risk of failure if they are not refurbished within the next few years.

"The failure of any of these sites, particularly at some of the key junctions in the county would require an installation upgrade, which would typically take six to 12 months from design to completion.

"While this takes place, the only way the junction/ pedestrian crossing could operate would be by temporary signals."

To remedy the issue, the council has committed to spending £8.9M on upgrading its signals between now and April 2023, with the first £900,000 being spent on before the end of the current financial year.

Mr Tranter said some of the signals at some crossings could be modified to increase capacity, either for the pedestrians and cyclists using a given crossing or the motorists passing through it.

He added that existing signals would be replaced by LEDs, cutting down on both energy and maintenance costs.

He said: "All refurbished sites will provide new LED signal heads, which typically use around 85 per cent less energy than incandescent lamps.

"Incandescent lamps typically last 12 to 18 months, whereas LED lamps can last up to ten years therefore considerably reducing the maintenance burden.

"All refurbishment schemes will seek to improve junction capacity for vehicular traffic while also improving facilities for pedestrians and cyclists where appropriate."

The council said it was still finalising the full list of locations where the most urgent repairs were needed.