Ref. 12558/2TRAFFIC chaos that has been bringing Marlborough to a rush hour standstill in the past few weeks is being blamed on roadworks which have closed George Lane.

Every afternoon last week traffic coming into the town on the A4 from the Hungerford direction had to queue from as far out as Savernake Hospital.

Drivers coming into the town along the Bath Road found themselves nose-to-tail as far back as the Manton turning.

Delays on the east-west A4 route through the town have also caused tailbacks on the north-south route with traffic on the A346 towards Ogbourne St George at a standstill as far back as the Bay Bridges lay-by.

Traffic from the Burbage-Salisbury direction has had to queue from the Postern Hill picnic site at peak times.

The closure of George Lane for a month has demonstrated just how much traffic uses it regularly to avoid the High Street.

Last Friday traffic heading into Marlborough along the London Road queued up from before 8am until after 7pm.

The chaos has had a dramatic effect on the takings of some High Street shops because shoppers and visitors have had difficulty in getting to the George Lane car park.

Just before Christmas when traffic lights in George Lane caused long delays getting in and out of the car park, shop managers were so angry with British Gas that it finally agreed to halt the roadworks involved in laying the new gas main, until after the holiday.

Roadworks began again in January with two-way traffic controlled by traffic lights, but as the contractors reached the narrow end of George Lane by its junction with Salisbury Road the contractor was forced to close the road.

County councillor Margaret Boulton said she understood motorists' frustration at the long delays but there was little that could be done about the restriction in George Lane."

Mayor Bill Cavill, whose home is at the side of the busy Salisbury Road, said: "Ever since George Lane was closed we have noticed the tremendous build-up in traffic.

"In Salisbury Road we expect it twice a day for an hour or so when the students and school buses are coming and going from St John's.

"But ever since George Lane has been closed the traffic queues have been all day long."

British Gas said it had given plenty of notice that George Lane was to be excavated, and extra notice that the final phase would have to involve the closure to through traffic because of the narrowness of the road.

It said said replacing the old cast iron pipes could not longer be delayed on safety grounds.

A spokeswoman for the gas board's contracting wing, Transco, told the Gazette on Monday that it hoped to have the work in George Lane finished by the end of next week , April 2.

She said: "We would certainly have finished by now but we had to suspend the work during the Mop Fairs and for the Christmas shopping.

"This is an essential job because we are not just replacing an old pipe but putting in a larger pipe. We need to get extra gas into Marlborough.

"We are doing our best and we are aware of the sensitivity of the job."

A Wiltshire highways spokesman said: "We do not have any control over the contractors and if they say the road has to be closed we have to go along with them."