FRUSTRATED motorists have once more been left fuming in queues of traffic on the A666 - all because of a mound of rubble.

Peak time drivers became stuck in huge traffic queues in and out of Darwen yesterday because rubble, dug up during a recent £1million water mains replacement project, was blocking one carriageway of Duckworth Street outside ICI.

Temporary traffic lights were in operation to direct motorists around the 30-yard obstruction as contractors completed resurfacing.

Blackburn with Darwen Council says the work should have finished by Friday, but North West Water says the agreement was that work would continue until Monday.

North West Water spokesman Suzanne Rigby today confirmed the mound had been left in place because the water mains work would have been slowed down had a wagon been brought in to shift the earth.

She said: "There has been a certain amount of unhappiness about this job.

"After extensive consultation with nearby residents and the council it was decided not to follow the usual procedure of taking the spoil away in wagons to make the job quicker."

Barry O'Connor, who works in the nearby Margaret's Cafe in Duckworth Street, said: "This is infuriating.

"It is annoying for the drivers who have to sit in the queues of traffic and it is annoying for traders and residents who have to put up with the noise."

The roadworks were the latest in a series which have plagued the A666 in both Darwen and Lower Darwen, creating traffic gridlock at peak times and earning the road the nickname "The Devil's Highway."

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