Newspaper Soc poll finds public oppose traffic notice changes

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The trade body for regional and local newspapers has published new research claiming that the public are against proposals to stop printing traffic notices in the press.

The GfK poll for the Newspaper Society (NS) found two thirds of people were concerned about the proposed change - which, if passed, could see announcements of road closures placed only on council websites.

According to the survey, based on 1,000 telephone interviews, only a third of respondents had visited their local council's website to find out information in the past year. A similar proportion of those surveyed had not used the internet at all in the past week.

Some 79 per cent expected their printed local paper to keep them informed about traffic changes - the second most important source of information behind roadside signs.

The NS said in a release: "The NS believes the proposals to remove the statutory obligation for councils to publish Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) in local newspapers pose a dangerous threat to the public's right to know as councils would rely on their own websites and site notices to advertise traffic orders rather than trusted local newspapers."

The Department for Transport's public consultation on the issue closes next Monday , 23 April. More than 100 MPs have taken part .

A further Westminster Hall debate on the future of local newspapers is due to take place in parliament next Wednesday afternoon.