New beer pokes fun at town's traffic woe

A new beer created by a Shrewsbury firm pokes fun at traffic issues in and around the town centre.

Panic at the Bus Stop was created by Rachael and Andrew Hooper, the owners of the Tap and Can pub which is located near to the train station's gyratory scheme.

The system was installed with the aim of boosting public transport use but has been heavily criticised for increasing delays

A floating bustop was criticised by disability campaigners and wheelchair users for being too small and bus service Arriva Midlands took the decision to suspend services to it. The council has suggested a number of short term fixes to alleviate the problem.

"At quieter times [the gyratory] has helped but at busy times it is still chaos," Mrs Hooper said.

"It's a work in progress so we'll see if anything else changes.

Mr Hooper added: "There's not much you can do when it gets to the busier periods because it's still a single lane that people have to go through, at times it is backed up all the way to Morrisons.

"It's quite a big issue that we've got at the moment."

When the work first started the number of visitors to the pub dropped as people could not get there, the couple said. But footfall has started to increase again.

Announcing the launch to their customers on social media, the owners said: "We expect this to sell a lot faster than the traffic… so come get a taste of the drama!"

The artwork on the can reflects the issues the town faces and includes a depiction of the floating bus stop and cycle lane.

So far, nearly 300 pints of the ale have been sold since its launch last week.

Work on Shrewsbury's gyratory system began in June 2024, bringing in a single-lane road outside the railway station.

A floating bus stop was installed with an island for passengers to safely board in the middle of the road, with a cycle lane beyond.

A petition signed by thousands of people has criticised the "dangerous" and "utterly ridiculous" decision to place a "floating" bus stop on a busy stretch of road.

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