People in Westlea say they feel trapped by the continuing closure of the Stonehill Green access to Mead Way.

They have urged the borough council to reopen the access to alleviate the traffic nightmare that has added more than an hour on to some journeys. But the council has insisted the road will remain shut to stop lorry drivers using it a rat-run and causing danger to children.

There is only one way of getting in and out of the area now due to the closure, which has put pressure on the Mannington roundabout and diversion routes.

Helen Macarthur, 38 said: “The amount of time I spend sitting in traffic is crazy.

"There are always queues up Great Western Way and Mannington roundabout.

“I used to work at Nationwide and the journey there was horrendous. On a normal day, it would take 10 minutes but, with the roadworks, it was taking up to hour and-a-half every day. It takes a lot longer to get anywhere.

"The amount of petrol I use is ridiculous. The temporary traffic lights add time to the journey. It’s chaos, she said: “The whole time Mead Way has been shut, they have dug up Stonehill Green and are using it as a dumping ground. If they reopened it, it would make a huge difference to everyone.”

The Mead Way project began in March 2020 and was initially expected to take 20 weeks.

Scrutiny committee chairman Jim Robbins said: “Where the council have let down residents so badly, they should be much more proactive about helping them now, and look into ways of stopping the HGVs using the route so that residents can get a small piece of relief from the traffic nightmare.”

A council spokesperson said: “We understand people’s frustration. The Stonehill Green access to Mead Way will remain closed to stop HGVs from cutting through Westlea, past the primary school, to the Westmead industrial estate.

“If it were to open, this would be a potential danger to children.We would ask local residents to bear with us for a little while longer as work on site is moving in the right direction.

"Most of the utility work which had caused the delays over the last few months has now been completed and our contractor for the scheme, is still on track for a late November finish.”