Residents and councillors have criticised the “reckless debacle” that left a traffic light on a busy Northolt roundabout “dangerously” out of action for SIX MONTHS.

Ealing Council's cabinet member for environment and transport and councillor for Northolt West End, Bassam Mahfouz, said a traffic light was knocked at the White Hart roundabout, in Church Road, in January, leaving it “leaning considerably with all the light covers and colours knocked off too”.

He said, despite him and many members of the community reporting it to Transport for London (TfL), nothing was done until Thursday evening (July 2) - six months later.

Even then, the councillor called it a “rushed botch job”, after visiting the site on Monday (July 6).

Traffic lights at White Hart roundabout in Northolt after they were fixed - photo taken on July 6

TfL confirmed that an accident happened in January but insists a safety assessment was done which found the location “safe”.

A spokesman said the traffic light was “not wobbly” and ensured there was “no danger”.

But Mr Mahfouz argued: “The White Hart roundabout is one of the busiest junctions in west London but despite numerous assurances TfL would fix the problem, over six months passed.

“If it was in central London they wouldn’t have left it like this for a day - it’s reckless and tantamount to neglecting Northolt. You would think it would be a priority.

“It was in a bad way, completely non-operational. They have had other works done in the area so were completely ignoring it, calls were being ignored.”

Photo shows leaning traffic light at White Hart roundabou on May 19

Ann Staunton, headteacher of nearby St Raphael’s Catholic Primary School, said: “The situation was simply dangerous and ridiculous. These broken lights were at a crucial intersection and caused a lot of confusion for drivers.”

Local resident Katie de Joux added: “I first contacted TfL in January to report a fault with a traffic light at the White Hart roundabout. I was concerned it could cause an accident, it’s a busy roundabout that links several major roads.

“After several emails back and forth, they said an engineer had been out and had not found any faults. Considering the traffic light in question was cordoned off and severely leaning and the lights were all broken, a nonsensical response.

“I am disappointed TFL are clearly not committed to making necessary repairs that ensure our roads are safe.”

A spokesman for TfL said the traffic signals were replaced on Thursday evening (July 2) and are now working.

He said: “Measures have now been put in place so there isn’t a similar delay if a similar collision takes place.”