WIDESPREAD delays were caused on Wycombe's roads this week while the police stopped drivers to find out where they were going.

Motorists sat in tailbacks that stretched the length of London Road while fellow road users completed the traffic census commissioned by Bucks County Council and Wycombe District Council.

At first, police stopped individual drivers by the roadside, but as the traffic began queuing they resorted to handing them out the surveys as cars drove past, to try to break up the congestion.

A parish councillor for Loudwater, Maurice Smith, said: "The whole traffic portrayal is completely distorted.

"They would have been far better to wait until the new lighting system had been implemented in London Road and then taken a survey.

"I think they have selected a very poor time. Between 8am and 10am in the morning, which is when the traffic is at its highest, is completely ridiculous."

Drivers were asked what type of vehicle they were driving, the number of occupants and where they were going to and from.

This information will be collated together to make a model of traffic patterns which the council can then use when making major planning decisions.

The census began on Monday, and Wednesday saw the first real delays caused by it.

The group manager for support policy and performance at Bucks County Council, Marcus Rogers, said: "We do apologise sincerely for the delays.

"We are doing our utmost to ensure they don't happen again.

"We're learning lessons as we're going along and we are working very closely with the consultants to make sure these delays don't happen again.

"We clearly don't want to cause disruption to anyone by carrying out this program of surveys."

Some surveys were sent to homes throughout Wycombe, but the council wanted to stop people at the roadside to get a better "representative sample" of people's driving patterns.