Roadworks paused after repeated abuse of workers

Work started on safety barrier replacement work in the Sandy area, on the A1, in October

A £4.6m roadwork upgrade has been suspended after "repeated abuse and threatening behaviour" to a workforce.

National Highways said the safety barrier replacement on the A1 between Biggleswade and Sandy, Bedfordshire, was due to finish this month.

"We had seven instances in one week of road users dangerously trespassing into our closed work area."

Work is expected to begin again on 7 August and take about two weeks to complete.

"We’ve had incidents of cars speeding through the roadworks, as well as people walking through the works", a spokesman said.

"As the safety barrier we are replacing is incomplete, the reduced speed limit will remain in place until the work is finished," he added.

"We are very close to completing this work, with only a few more weeks of overnight road closures needed."

The work started in October, and was being carried out between 20:00 and 06:00, weeknights.