Ref. 11997WORK on installing safety measures and re-surfacing at one of Chippenham's main road junctions is resulting in daily traffic chaos.

And parents are complaining that roadworks, designed to reduce speed, are making the school run unsafe.

Re-surfacing the Bristol Road near the Folly roundabout began last week and temporary traffic lights are due to be in operation until the repairs are completed in nine weeks time.

Parents have found themselves queuing in Bristol Road for 20 minutes each morning and evening, before dropping off and picking up their children.

Meanwhile, the pelican crossing, used by hundreds of children to cross the Bristol Road each day, has been turned off.

Wiltshire County Council said the work is being carried out after engineers found vehicle speeds to be too fast at the roundabout.

But parents and teachers are confused as to why they were not informed earlier.

Mother-of-three Laura Hickman, of Dickson Way, said: "Traffic is lining up in every direction and as well as children having to arrive late at school, the crossing has been turned off, which has got to be dangerous.

"Surely the work could be done around peak times, when school begins and ends each day?"

Sheldon School deputy head teacher Sue Powell said the school had not been consulted about the implications of the work but had been giving road safety advice to their pupils as a result.

"In excess of 2,000 pupils use this road every day and it may have helped if the council has consulted the school about the possible knock-on effects," she said.

"As soon as we learned that the pelican crossing had been turned off for four days, we sent memos to all our children, urging them to use caution when crossing the road.

"We will be reiterating that safety message until the crossing is turned back on.

"Teachers' days have also become longer as a result of the traffic, which has been stressful, as teachers do not want to be late for school," added Mrs Powell.

"I left school at around 6pm the other night and was still queuing outside the school 20 minutes later."

Jan Hatherell, deputy head of Hardenhuish School, also said that children and staff had been arriving late.

"Children have arrived late for school, particularly on the first day the lights were installed, but everyone is just having to leave around 15-20 minutes more, to get here," she explained.

"The thing that has been the biggest concern to us is that four-way lights appear to be the long-term solution, so it might not actually get easier.

"We have received calls from parents regarding the pelican crossing being switched off and although the temporary lights are leaving enough time for people to cross the road with vigilance, we would hope that if four-way lights are installed, they are programmed to give enough time for people to cross."

Pupils had also been warned to be extra vigilant when crossing the road.

A spokesman for Wiltshire County Council said: "It would be impractical to do the work at night, as this would be considerably more expensive and would be likely to prompt complaints about noise.

"We apologise for any temporary inconvenience to the public, but the work is necessary and important for safety reasons and will be completed as quickly as possible."

The junction is being resurfaced and solid 'splitter' islands are being installed to direct traffic and reduce the area available for circulating traffic this is expected to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety.

The Folly crossroads will remain as two separate mini-roundabouts, the spokesman added.

The contractor has been told to turn the pelican crossing back on if the temporary lights are not being used for a substantial period.