The man slowing down drivers

Derek Turner, Transport for London's single-minded - some would say ruthless - managing director, said he wants to be remembered for two key achievements.

The first is the dramatic redesign of Trafalgar Square as part of the World Squares For All programme.

The second is the congestion charging scheme due to start next February. But both have attracted unprecedented anger from drivers, who seem destined to remember Turner for little more than ruining their journey to work.

Both schemes have been viciously attacked, with Turner accused of "fixing" the traffic light system to guarantee their success.

The case against Mr Turner is that he has caused extensive disruption for drivers by switching lights on the approaches to the Square to red for longer, to keep the site relatively clear of traffic.

Long queues have built up, with some journey times doubled. The second charge is that Mr Turner has altered traffic light timings across London under the guise of improving the lot for pedestrians, cyclists and buses - while creating further artificial hold-ups for drivers.

Motorists see him as anti-car. The GLA Tories, in particular, claim his light-fixing will enable him to reset the timings when the £5-a-day charge begins and create the impression that congestion charging is a big success.

Longer phases on red will also let him deflect traffic from the centre to avoid meltdown on key inner-city roads as thousands of drivers attempt to avoid the £5 charge, they say. Last week Mr Turner appeared exasperated as he was ordered by Ken Livingstone to call in the press to put his side of the story.

Yes, he had altered traffic lights, he said. No, the operation had nothing to do with congestion charging. He said it was vital to alter traffic lights to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and push forward bus priority measures. Even his critics conceded that Trafalgar Square will be welcomed by tourists and many Londoners when it is completed. Over the years traffic light timings had been weighted too heavily in favour of drivers, he said.

In a recent interview Mr Turner said that under the Conservatives his brief had been to ensure there was no increase in car commuting. When Labour came to power, his new instructions were to reduce car commuting.

He told the interviewer: "I don't mind if there's some increase in journey times and some increase in inconvenience for car drivers, providing it's offset with a benefit to people and goods. That is the emphasis: the movement of people and goods rather than vehicles."