Four people have been injured in a crash on a Wolverhampton roundabout just weeks after controversial traffic lights were switched on to cut accidents.

All four were taken to New Cross Hospital, some with neck and chest pains, after the accident on the A449 Stafford Road in Coven Heath at the junction with the M54.

Lights were switched on at the end of July following a £2.6 million scheme to install them and widen slip roads.

There are also new markings, which make drivers stick to specific lanes.The Highways Agency claimed the work was necessary because 78 people were injured in 51 accidents over five years.

However, all were classed as minor and critics said today the accident, which happened at 10.30am yesterday, proved the traffic lights had not done anything to improve safety.

Colin Leighfield, chairman of the transport policy group at the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said: “We were told there were 51 accidents which caused minor injuries over five years.

“Here we are weeks after millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was spent with an accident that required four ambulances to attend.

“This could well be the most serious accident to have occurred here in a number of years and it comes despite the traffic lights.

“This demonstrates that they were unnecessary.”