Pedestrians will benefit from new Puffin crossings, which are being gradually introduced across Essex, according to the county council.

They will eventually replace older Zebra and Pelican crossings, and provide new crossings in some areas.

Puffins stand for Pedestrian User-Friendly INtelligent crossings. They use the familiar red standing man and green walking man symbols, but use beams to detect when a pedestrian is waiting at the kerb to cross the road.

Pedestrians must press the button to indicate that they wish to cross, and if they decide not to and walk away the crossing signal is cancelled. This avoids unnecessary disruption to the flow of traffic.

It will also be easier to see whether the signals have changed, as the indications telling pedestrians to wait or cross are located just above the push button, instead of on the opposite side of the road.

Detector beams in the crossing zone automatically extend the crossing time according the needs of the pedestrian.

Ron Williams, Essex County Council's cabinet member for strategic planning and transportation, said: "I urge everyone to get acquainted with how these new 'intelligent' crossings operate.

"The enhanced technology should help to reduce anxiety for pedestrians who need that extra bit of time to get across the road. Elderly and disabled people and mums with pushchairs should find the Puffins particularly beneficial."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.