MOTORISTS and traders face six more weeks of major traffic disruption as work continues on a multi-million pound gas pipeline scheme.
Traders fear roadworks in Leek, which are causing traffic gridlock, are forcing shoppers to steer clear of the town centre.
And commuters have complained that four-way traffic lights at the Compton junction have added up to hour on their journey to and from work.
Those traffic lights at Cheadle Road, Broad Street, St Edward Street, and Brook Street, are due to be lifted tomorrow.
But as work switches to other main roads in the town, residents and businesses have called for contractors to work around-the-clock to complete the project ahead of schedule.
The work is being carried out by National Grid, which is replacing gas mains with plastic pipes throughout the town.
Commuters between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek will be held up next week by two-way traffic lights near to the Morrisons supermarket on Newcastle Road.
Further chaos is expected the following week when work switches to St Edward Street in the town centre, where work is expected to take four or five weeks.
Families have complained lengthy tail-backs have led to commuters taking rat runs on residential streets.
And traders are angry that traffic lights have remained at the Compton junction for the last three weekends, even though no work has been done.
Barry Birch, landlord of The Swan, on St Edward Street, called for contractors to work overnight.
He said: "It is not doing the town any good at all. Roadworks disrupt everything. It is bound to affect our business, people get sick of sitting in traffic. The junction outside my pub on St Edward Street is bad enough as it is, I do not know what it will be like when they start work.
"They have told me they want to cut my gas off at 8am when it begins, but I have told them I have got a business to run and have got to make a living. We are not very happy about it."
County councillor Steve Povey, pictured below, called on residents and traders to blow the whistle on the contractors if work was not completed by deadline.
He said: "I accept the work has to be done, but it has to be done to a timescale to avoid causing even more misery. I understand one contractor has already been fined for running over schedule.
"There has been some very long tailbacks and there was one morning when it took some people an hour and a half to get into Leek.
"I am also concerned that over the last three weekends there have been traffic lights in place and no-one doing any work."
National Grid spokesman Jane Taylor urged motorists to be patient.
She said: "We understand people do not like roadworks, but it is only in the short term and there is a long term gain.
"We are laying several miles of new pipes and once they are in the ground they should last for up to 80 years and that cuts down the potential for emergency work.
"We are trying to plan it so it does not cause too much disruption. Our main objective is not to over run and to get the work done on time."
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