Politicians from across Watford called for the county council to abandon immediately the most “crazy, hare-brained scheme anyone has ever heard of” at a meeting this evening.

The Watford Highways Liaison Meeting, held at Town Hall, discussed the impact of the one-way trial in Vicarage Road.

Ian Thompson, an officer from Hertfordshire County Council, said the trial was to see if a one-way could be accommodated to allow the installation of a crossing outside Laurance Haines Primary School – something that has been discussed since a child was killed in a road traffic collision there in 2008.

He said the crossing could not be installed unless the road was one-way.

He added the scheme would also benefit plans for the forthcoming Croxley Rail Link station in Vicarage Road.

But councillors from all parties agreed Watford could not continue to cope with the trial as the traffic congestion was affecting residents, commuters, schools, emergency services, doctor’s surgeries and businesses and was causing knock on effects across the town and Hertfordshire-wide.

Cllr Karen Collett, Liberal Democrat, said everyone she had spoken to felt it was “one of the most crazy, hare-brained schemes they’d ever heard of”.

The county council’s apparent lack of consultation with councillors across Watford, Holywell Community Group and residents in neighbouring Vicarage ward was also criticised.

Holywell cllr and county cllr Nigel Bell, Labour, said after the chaos on Monday and Tuesday he would prefer the scheme was withdrawn.

While chair of the meeting, county cllr Stephen Giles Medhurst, Liberal Democrat, said the county council should start thinking outside the box and find an alternative.

He said: “There is no willingness to carry on this experimental trial.”

Mr Thompson said the county council was looking to see if changes could be made to the signals at the Croxley View junction with Tolpits Lane, to ease the morning rush hour congestion. He said it would take two to three weeks before this could be done.

He said he would be feeding back the councillors’ concerns to the county council tomorrow morning.