Neighbours who campaigned to have a “dangerous” junction altered have welcomed the council’s decision to widen it after the issue was raised in the Guardian.

People living near Kingswood Road in Leytonstone said they were forced to mount the pavement or drive onto the path of oncoming traffic when turning left onto Grove Green Road.

Waltham Forest Council introduced a Copenhagen crossing at the junction earlier this year to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

But drivers said the change left them with insufficient room to navigate the turn safely, while the council called it “poor driver behaviour”.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Vasseem Gill of Fladgate Road, Leytonstone said: “We are pleased the junction has been changed because we don’t have to worry when we pull out of the road anymore.

“What it means is that when you pull out onto Grove Green Road you don’t have to go up onto the pavement.

“Before, there was not enough room and sometimes you would end up on the other side of the road.

“Now you don’t even have to think about it because of how wide it is.

“Before pulling in and out was dangerous and I would say it is safe now.”

In August the council installed cameras to monitor the junction and analyse the results before making a decision.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

It said while the videos showed the junction is “working well” for pedestrians and presented “very few issues” for the majority of drivers, it made the decision to adjust the kerb.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Member for the Environment at Waltham Forest Council, said: “Safety is always the council's priority.

“Following the redesign of this junction at this location and after a period of bedding-in, we undertook to monitor driver and pedestrian behaviours and manoeuvres - in this instance using a stationary CCTV camera.

“The footage showed a small number of vehicles clipping the kerb and damaging the protective cover for the bridge expansion joint over the A12.

“The continuation of this poor driver behaviour would have caused significant maintenance issues if left unchecked.”