More than £150,000 of taxpayers ’ money has been spent on four traffic-blocking bollards - that cars can drive around . Councillors installed the new rising posts in Gloucester in a bid to promote a ‘ cafe culture ’ , but they have already impaled a police car and been blamed for a downturn in trade by shopkeepers . The posts , which operate between 10am and 5pm every day , have been installed in the city centre on four ‘ gate ’ streets to keep vehicles out of the pedestrian area . Problematic : Councillors installed the new rising posts in Gloucester in a bid to promote a 'cafe culture ' - but they have already impaled a police car and been blamed for a downturn in trade by shopkeepers . But city councillor Sebastian Field said he saw a car getting past one of the bollards , telling a meeting : ‘ It was going at quite a speed and it wasn ’ t too tight . This needs to be sorted out. ’ Traders have also voiced concerns about emergency vehicles being delayed by the bollards - which have been jointly funded at a cost of £157,000 by the local city and county councils . Up and down : Traders have voiced concerns about emergency vehicles being delayed by the bollards . And last week a police car entering the zone in pursuit of a shoplifter was impaled on one of the bollards , which suddenly rose up beneath it . City council leader Paul James admitted there were ‘ teething problems ’ with the system , but claimed it would bring value in the long term . He added : ‘ I imagine it must have been pretty tight for any car to pass through but we must report it to highways to address the issue . Of course we want the system to work properly. ’ Vernon Smith , cabinet member for highways and floods at the county council , said that planters either side of the bollards would be moved to reduce the gap . ‘ It ’ s been illegal since the Nineties to drive on the gate streets between 10am and 5pm , and the police can enforce against any vehicles which are there when they shouldn ’ t be. ’ The bollards , which began working on March 2 , were installed following pedestrian safety concerns .
Councillors installed rising posts in Gloucester to promote 'cafe culture ' But they have impaled police car and been blamed for downturn in trade . The council has also introduced a new policy that will see the number of councillors elected from outside London increase by one per cent every year until 2020.