Slugs have been identified as the cause of repeated failures of new traffic lights at a busy crossroads in Stretford, Trafford, after Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) investigated the issue.
The lights at the junction of Urmston Lane, Kingsway and Barton Road – known as the Robin Hood crossroads – kept going out, with three incidents reported on September 3 2025, December 16 2025 and June 30 2026.
Investigation finds slugs caused short circuits
Coun Steve Adshead, Trafford council’s executive member for Highways and Environmental Services and Stretford councillor, said: “For them to go several times less than a couple of years old seemed very odd.”
He added: “We had a couple of residents raise it with us saying ‘why do these lights keep going?’. I had to push Transport for Greater Manchester on it quite a bit.”
More than a year after the first fault, TfGM apologised for not fully investigating the issue initially. A letter from the body stated: “The review found that, with the exception of one outage caused by a road traffic collision, the faults shared the same underlying cause. Slugs had entered the signal controller and caused short circuits.”
Remedial works carried out
The letter added: “Remedial works were undertaken in July 2026 to address this issue. Since these works were completed, there have been no further signal outages at this location.”
It continued: “While the number of faults experienced is clearly not what we would expect from a relatively new installation, the review indicates that the outages results from this specific environmental issue rather than a wider reliability problem with the controller or signal equipment.”
The work to the signal controller included checking the door and base seals for holes and sealing them, and installing copper tape around the electrical components. It is thought the slugs can crawl inside traffic lights for warmth, but end up being fried by the electrical systems that power the lights.
First time highways team has seen this
The junction was upgraded as part of a £17.6m redevelopment of Stretford town centre, completed in 2024 with new green spaces, planting, footpaths and a cycle lane.
Coun Adshead, first elected in 1986, said: “This was the first time the highways team had ever experienced this. They did not seem to have come across this before. I have never come across it.”
A TfGM spokesperson said: “Recurring issues with traffic signals at the Robin Hood crossroads in Stretford were investigated and it was identified that slugs were entering the signal controller, causing short circuits. Work was undertaken to address the problem, no further issues have been reported, and we will continue to monitor the situation.”
