THEY say there is no gain without pain - but it is difficult to believe that anyone knew exactly how much pain there would be in developing the new road system around Blackburn.

The daily traffic jams have been reported for weeks by this newspaper as every major road into the town seems to have been hit simultaneously by roadworks and bollards.

A taxi driver was recently heard complaining that it took more time to drive from one side of the town to the other than to travel from say Blackburn college to Preston!

As a result of this traffic chaos town centre traders are fearful that shoppers will desert Blackburn for places like Preston and Burnley and the AA today describe the effect of the roadworks as "catastrophic".

Now after the council have approved another stage - the introduction of a gyratory system around the Townsmoor retail park - the Lancashire Fire and Rescue service have made their concerns public.

They are careful to say that no lives have yet been jeopardised but - and it is a big but - they add that firefighters are experiencing difficulties , getting stuck in congestion and are concerned that their performance, which is measured in response times, might be affected.

This means they are taking longer to get to fires.

Asda too are worried about what the latest road scheme, which involves making Park Road and Great Bolton Street one way, will make it more difficult for shoppers to reach them.

Their concern comes in the wake of Morrisons who have gone on record as being upset at road plans might deter shoppers coming into their town centre store.

Those who are upset have emphasised that the council has kept them informed stage by stage of what is happening.

That's a plus point although it does not ease the immediate agony. It also doesn't stop people wondering if the whole process of bringing Blackburn's road system into the 21st century couldn't have been implemented with far less pain.

But that's perhaps something for later. Today's priority has to be to get traffic moving as quickly as possible and ensuring that emergency services are NOT be held up.