04/10/2026
A joint press release from myself and Edward Argar MP issued today:
PRESS RELEASE
4th October 2026
Councillor and MP demand urgent action after new Queniborough junction leaves buses unable to serve village
County Councillor James Poland and Edward Argar MP have demanded urgent action from Leicestershire County Council after a newly redesigned junction in Queniborough was found to be unusable by buses – despite concerns about the design having been raised before the work was completed.
The Rearsby Road/Syston Road crossroads reopened on Saturday (3rd October) following almost three months of disruption caused by works to alter the junction.
However, following the reopening, Arriva carried out a risk assessment of the new layout and concluded that buses could not safely negotiate the junction.
Arriva told Leicestershire County Council that when a bus attempted the manoeuvre in both directions, it was unable to get through the junction safely without mounting the pavement. The company said this created an unacceptable risk to pedestrians and other road users and called for the design to be reviewed urgently.
As a result, buses have ceased serving Queniborough village while the problem remains unresolved, potentially leaving residents – including some of the village's most vulnerable passengers – without their normal local bus service.
The development comes despite Cllr James Poland, County Councillor for Syston Fosse, repeatedly raising concerns with the County Council before the junction reopened about whether buses would be able to make the turn safely.
Cllr Poland warned Highways that the turn had already been tight for buses before the new pedestrian island was installed and specifically asked for the island to be removed before reopening if the Council could not be certain buses could safely make the turn.
Council officers had previously stated that the revised layout increased the space available for buses and represented an improvement on the previous arrangement.
Cllr Poland and Mr Argar have both now written to the County Council's Director of Highways, copying in the Council's Chief Executive, Cabinet Lead Member for Highways and Leader, demanding that resolving the problem is treated as a top priority and that the pedestrian island is removed if necessary to restore the bus service.
Cllr James Poland said:
“I am really angry about what has happened here. Myself and others repeatedly warned that the new layout looked too tight for buses, and I specifically asked Highways to make absolutely certain a full-size bus could safely make the turn. I was assured it would – we now know that was wrong.
“It is simply not acceptable that these warnings were not properly investigated. Residents have endured nearly three months of disruption, only for the junction to reopen and buses to be unable to safely use it.
“I have demanded that resolving this is treated as a top priority. If the pedestrian island has to go to get buses back into Queniborough, then it has to go.
“I am determined to do everything I can to get the service restored as quickly as possible.”
Cllr Poland's call for an investigation reflects his view that the Council needs a “right first time” approach rather than completing schemes and dealing with foreseeable problems afterwards.
Edward Argar MP, Member of Parliament for Melton and Syston, said:
“The bus service serving Queniborough is vital to many residents of the village, especially older residents, and for LCC to have pressed ahead with this pedestrian island, despite warnings from Cllr Poland and others that it could stop buses or agricultural vehicles from being able to use the junction, is frankly ridiculous.
"LCC and its leadership need to get a grip on this problem fast, work with Arriva, and make whatever changes are needed, if necessary removing the island, to ensure buses can use the route again to serve passengers in Queniborough as swiftly as possible. They also need to get to the bottom of how this happened, and why this potential waste of taxpayers' money occurred."
Cllr Poland and Mr Argar are calling on Leicestershire County Council to work urgently with Arriva to make whatever alterations are necessary to enable buses to safely negotiate the crossroads and resume serving Queniborough village as soon as possible.
ENDS
