STUBBORN drivers who refuse to believe the main road between Burnley and Todmorden is closed and impassable are having to do difficult U-turns, says a highways boss.

Almost every 10 minutes, construction workers see one or two cars and even HGVs having to do U-turns when they discover the road is closed.

Signs have been posted at either end of the works, but Highways Agency bosses said today signs will be increased.

The £280,00 scheme to repair the road follows a landslip on the A646 last March and further damage later in the year which blocked the road completely.

Project manager Nick Moreton said: "The hillside is slipping and our investigation team has found out it is due to a water problem in the hillside. The aim of the scheme is to capture that water and channel it down proper drainage paths.

"At the moment the road is closed off to put in a culvert leading to the cut-off drain but we have had to extend the depth of that. We are sinking stone columns to the rock under the road which is about 18ft down and in the adjacent field to a depth of about 27ft."

Last time when there was a landslip people the road was marked closed and coned off, but some motorists moved the cones and drove over the single track road. This time the road surface has been removed and there is a big hole where the carriageway used to be.

Mr Moreton said: "All the motorists are doing is causing themselves extra hassle and trying to reverse an HGV on that stretch of road is not easy."

When the stone columns are in place the road will reopen to single-line traffic, which will be controlled by lights for about nine weeks.

Buses have been introduced to ensure the villages of Cliviger, Holme Chapel and Walk Mill are not cut off and Mr Moreton said he had not received any complaints about the service.

Cliviger Parish Council chairman Tony Harrison said he was concerned about the plans to reopen a mine above the village, but Mr Moreton said he had been assured by a consultant working for the Coal Authority that any new workings should not affect the road.