A SHAKEN-UP driver has warned that Taunton's Wickes Roundabout is a "hot spot for bad drivers and needs traffic lights" after suffering a near miss.

Michael Coombe, 61, a maintenance engineer, from Taunton, was on his daily commute to work at around 7.45am on Friday, October 25, when the incident occurred.

He said: "I was going my normal way to work which I have done for about three years, up Chritchard Way to the Wickes Roundabout, in the righthand lane, indicating to turn right, and then left to come off the roundabout into Toneway.

"As I was doing this, all of a sudden I saw headlights flashing behind me and honking and a van had come along and was trying to get in on my near left side, and then just darts around the righthand side."

He added: "It was a very near miss and he was going round in the wrong lane at speed, then he wound his window down at the lights when I caught up with him and was trying to justify himself.

"He was smug thinking he was being clever undercutting on a busy roundabout. I didn't get his registration or I would have reported it to the police, and I don't think there's a camera on the roundabout which there should be."

Michael said he thinks the Wickes roundabout is "dodgy" and "should be put to traffic lights as the amount of traffic warrants it".

He added: "If it went to lights it would alleviate problems with drivers who don't have a clue what lane to be in. It is a hotspot for bad drivers."

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: "We don’t currently have any plans to signalise this roundabout."