CHANGES have been made to traffic lights near a war memorial which has been damaged in several accidents.

The fencing around the memorial in Skelton, in east Cleveland, has been damaged in three incidents since April at the A173 Marske Lane junction.

Research by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has shown the problem is caused by two-way traffic and vehicles, especially lorries, turning left into Marske Lane.

To try to combat the problems, the timing on the lights has been altered.

The changes mean when it is green for traffic travelling to Guisborough, the lights will be red for traffic in the opposite direction and vice versa.

This will allow drivers to use the full carriageway width to turn if necessary.

New signs will be erected to warn motorists of the changes which came into effect this week.

The council's principal engineer, Adrian Smith, said: "We needed to take some action over what has been a traffic troublespot and we believe this is the easiest method.

"Drivers may be slightly confused at the switch because we're stopping two-way traffic, but as long as they obey the traffic signals, they'll have no trouble," he added.