Former Kingsteignton mayor Cllr Mike Walters said he was delighted to have won his case about improved safety on one of the town's busiest thoroughfares.

Devon County Council had agreed to install a new zebra crossing close to the Ten Tors Inn in Exeter Road, work on which was due to start this week.

But Cllr Walters, left, now the town's county councillor and one of its district councillors, held out for a light-controlled crossing and this week got the result he was hoping for.

'The county's argument that pedestrians looking into the whites of drivers' eyes was enough to get them to stop I thought was pretty weak,' he said.

The extra cash for the Puffin crossing will be found from an existing budget for wider road improvements across Kingsteignton.

Cllr Walters did not taste success at the junction of Chudleigh Road and Old Exeter Road however, where major changes are under way in advance of the major New Cross house building project.

He had complained that temporary lights operating during the construction of a new junction had caused traffic jams and was concerned permanent lights could have the same result once operational.

However, county colleagues persuaded him to accept victory with the Ten Tors crossing and accept defeat, for now at least, at New Cross.

'It is something I will be keeping an eye on as we'll have to see if the lights can stand the test of time,' he said.

'It worries me that we might be wasting money we can ill afford and will have to revisit the site and make further changes in future.'