THE curse of the "road from hell" has struck again, with Traffic queueing for about a mile around a set of major roadworks.

Traffic along the A666 in Darwen tailed back yesterday from the temporary traffic lights surrounding the work at the Earnsdale Road junction to the M65 in one direction and Darwen town centre in the other.

A combination of works and a broken down car on the Darwen side caused tailbacks which delayed traffic for up to 15 minutes just before the rush hour.

The breakdown was cleared at about 4.30pm and traffic was moving smoothly soon after.

North West Water is replacing Victorian iron piping with plastic pipe and with Blackburn with Darwen Council starting roadworks on the A666 on the other side of Darwen on February 5, the outlook is bleak for motorists.

A spokesman for North West Water said traffic was moving smoothly in the main and roadworks are soon to move further towards the Veronica Street junction.

Motorists waiting on the A666 were philosophical about the delays.

Michael Armstrong, 37, of Bolton said: "I realise the work has to be done. It just infuriates me when just weeks later someone else digs the road up."

John Sullivan, 43, of Darwen said: "Someone broke down further up the road so it was understandable that queues are longer. I don't know why there always seems to be work done on the A666, it is never ending."