Traders' anger at two-mile roadworks queues

The roadworks were put in place when a sewer collapsed

Businesses said they have lost trade due to roadworks which caused two-mile queues in a tourist hotspot.

Temporary traffic lights on the A286 in Birdham near Chichester, West Sussex, were put in place from Monday to repair a collapsed sewer pipe.

Residents questioned why the works could not be done overnight to avoid two-hour delays at the start of the summer holidays.

Southern Water apologised for the inconvenience.

Rosario Cinquemani says traffic delays are causing him stock supply problems

“They’ve done it in the middle of the summer, the hottest day of the year. We have deliveries that can’t get to us, I need to get stock in the morning too,” said Rosario Cinquemani, owner of Rosario’s Mediterranean and tapas restaurant in East Wittering.

“By the time you get through the traffic all the stock is ruined. Nobody can get down here, you have carers and people who can’t get to work.

Sam Lee, owner of Brownie Bay cafe, said: “We have had a noticeable reduction in footfall coming into local shops.

“It is quite frustrating because when we opened we were looking forward to these summer months.”

Queues on the A286 were more than two miles long at 13:00 BST on Tuesday.

Sam Lee says footfall has dropped at his business

Resident Jennie Dettmer said: “I have never had such a ridiculous journey as I did on Monday. It’s one of the hottest days of the year, it’s absolute chaos.”

A Southern Water spokesperson said: “Our teams have been lining a stretch of sewer pipe on the A286. Two-way traffic management is required for our engineers to carry out the work safely.

"The lining of the sewer will guard against infiltration in the future. We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused commuters and residents.”

Southern Water said the work was expected to finish on Wednesday.

Jennie Dettmer says she was stuck in her car in the roadworks on the hottest day of the year so far

West Sussex County Council said that utility companies have a statutory right to do emergency works which it has no power to prevent.

A spokesperson added that it applied “as many conditions as possible” to help mitigate delays including manual control in line with tidal flow and extended working hours.

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