DRIVERS have been saved from months of misery by council chiefs who acted after an afternoon of motoring mayhem in Preston on Saturday.

City centre traffic was gridlocked as shoppers spent hours trying to get out of car parks, because of delays due to renovation work being carried out to the railway bridge at the top of Fishergate Hill.

The bridge usually has two lanes for motorists and one for buses, but one lane has been closed to accommodate a temporary footpath.

After holding a crisis meeting on Monday, council chiefs banned buses from the bridge between midday and 6pm on Saturday to allow the usual two lanes free for shoppers leaving the city centre.

One driver, Vicky Lansdowne, 27, an anaesthetic nurse from Queen's Road, Preston, had a two-and-a-half hour ordeal on Saturday getting out of The Mall St George's multi-storey car park.

She said: "I only went in to town for 20 minutes to buy a book. I returned to my car at 3.20pm and didn't get out until 5.50pm, I eventually got home at 6.10pm.

"For about an hour I didn't move an inch. It was made worse because I was parked on the fifth level.

"If I'd been on duty I wouldn't have stood a chance of getting there in time."

The lane closure has taken place so £250,000 of improvement works can be carried out by contractors for Network Rail, which owns the bridge.

The dilapidated facade will be grit blasted and repainted in red, black and white. Work is expected to be completed in 16 weeks.

All buses will have to follow diversion routes along Bow Lane, Ringway and Corporation Street on Saturday afternoons.

Councillor John Swindells, executive member for environment and sustainability, said: "Due to the lane closure which has been necessary to facilitate the work and ensure pedestrian safety, there were unforeseeable traffic problems at the bridge on Saturday.

"In a bid to reduce potential congestion in future, this decision has been taken.

"While this situation is not ideal, the work needs doing and will enhance this part of our city."

Carol Lowde, manager of The Mall St George's, backed the move and said it was good news for the city centre.