The politician overseeing the £16million transformation of the Ashford ring road says he remains unconvinced it will work.

And he has vowed to build pedestrian crossings and put in signs if the controversial shared space experiment leads to accidents.

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), Kent County Council’s cabinet member for highways, said he was unwilling to tolerate anything that endangered either pedestrians or motorists and would step in if the controversial 'shared-space’ concept showed signs of being unsafe.

His comments come after one of the design gurus behind the scheme insisted the idea of removing signs, crossings and lights would have the effect of naturally slowing down traffic around the town.

Ben Hamilton-Baillie visited Ashford recently and at a public meeting highlighted how a similar project in Kensington, London, had reduced incidents involving pedestrians.

But Cllr Ferrin said he continued to have doubts about the idea and in a downbeat assessment claimed: “I do not regard it as the most triumphant piece of work we have ever done.”

On the issue of safety, he said: “I’m cautious about the whole concept and have been from the start.

“People are comparing it to other places in ways I do not think are apt, like Kensington in London [which has a similar road scheme].

“The speed of traffic in London is much slower anyway.

“Whatever its faults were, the old ring road in Ashford had a much higher average speed.”

See this week's Kentish Express for full story.