RISING bollards in Worcester city centre that have worked for only two days in eight years will be given a final test at the beginning of next month.

Exactly when the test will take place has not been confirmed because ATG Access, the company who installed the bollards in Angel Street in 1999, has not given Worcestershire County Council an exact date.

A county council spokesman said: "We are not going to get an exact date but it will be early June.

"I think the week beginning Monday, June 4, is the earliest opportunity when they will be able to get it done. They don't give that much notice."

We previously reported how the county council will take a big interest in the test because if ATG Access fail to get the bollards to rise and fall automatically it will look at taking legal advice to have them removed.

If ATG Access manages to get the bollards working, they will only allow buses and emergency vehicles to use Angel Street between 10.30am and 4.30pm because hi-tech chips attached to the front of the vehicles will trigger the bollards to lower when they approach.

However, drivers of taxis and private cars currently use the road on a regular basis to drive through the city.

The bollards cost the taxpayer £40,000 and have refused to rise and lower over the years despite continued efforts by engineers to correct the problem.

Last year, we reported how when the bollards went live they would only lower when a vehicle approached from St Nicholas Street and not when they turned right from Foregate Street. ATG Access then installed a second detector opposite McDonald's which it hoped would correct the problem.

However, the corrective work failed and a strong magnetic field in that part of the city centre has been highlighted as the reason why the bollards are not working properly.

When contacted by the Worcester News, ATG Access declined to comment.